Arrangements were under the direction of Tharp-Sontheimer-Tharp Funeral Home of Metairie<\/a>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n![\"Share](\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/share-medium.png\")
DARRYL SUE MORAIS WHITE, \u00a0a New Orleans native and the former CEO and director of nursing at River Oaks Psychiatric Hospital, passed away on April 5, 2016, after an epic eight-year battle with cancer. She was 71.<\/p>\n
White was described by all who knew her as a tireless worker and a woman who enjoyed many varied shared activities such as enjoying games of Mah Jongg and libations with friends, traveling, but most especially being with her family and specifically with her grandchildren. \u00a0She was marked by a positive spirit, a sharp wit and an enviable capacity to live life to its fullest.<\/p>\n
A graduate of Isidore Newman School, White attended\u00a0Washington University in St. Louis, where she met art student\u00a0Leonard Louis White on a blind date. After a brief courtship, the two were married in New\u00a0Orleans in September of 1965 in a candlelight ceremony necessitated by a lack of power following the passage and destruction of Hurricane Betsy.<\/p>\n
After years as director of nursing, she became CEO\u00a0at River Oaks Hospital for 18 years, retiring in 2004. \u00a0It was the next year that another major hurricane, Katrina, uprooted her family from their Uptown home. The Whites moved to Covington, where she enjoyed her retirement to the fullest, hosting river-view front
\nporch gatherings with neighbors and becoming active in the Northshore\u00a0community. She became a member of several Mah Jongg groups, a knitting club and affiliated with the Northshore Jewish Congregation.<\/p>\n
White’s struggle to fight cancer was one she ultimately shared with her daughter, Ashley Morais White-Samuels. The Whites purchased a second home in Savannah to be near their daughter and spent a considerable time there while their daughter waged her own battle with ovarian cancer. White gave her daughter the inspirational message to never allow her illness to get in the way of enjoying life; she died in 2013.<\/p>\n
Preceded in death by her\u00a0daughter, White is survived by her husband of 50 years, Leonard Louis\u00a0White; her son Jason Aaron White (Christine), her\u00a0son-in-law Scott Samuels; her brother Lee Morais (Nancy) and three grandchildren.<\/p>\n
Graveside services were held on Friday, April 8 at 1:00 p.m. at Hebrew Rest Cemetery No. 3 Mausoleum, 2100 Pelopidas Street at Frenchmen Street. \u00a0Cantor David Mintz officiated. In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation to the Ashley Samuels Children’s and Youth Activity Fund<\/a>\u00a0or the New Orleans JCC Capital Campaign.<\/p>\n Arrangements were under the direction of Tharp-Sontheimer-Tharp Funeral Home of Metairie<\/a>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n