Mary Patrice (Sanborn) White was born in Taunton in 1931, daughter of the late Watson Charles “Sam” Sanborn and Mary Ellen “Mae” (FitzMaurice) Sanborn. She was the sister and sister-in-law of the late Watson Charles “Charlie” Sanborn Jr. and his wife the late Eleanor (Kiernan) Sanborn, and sister of the late W. Gerard Sanborn. She was survived by her sister-in-law Shirley (Jordan) Sanborn.
Patrice and her beloved husband, the late Richard A. White, were married for forty-eight years. She was the loving mother and mother-in-law of Richard A. White Jr. and his wife Maria Rivera White and the proud, adoring grandmother of Hannah Marie Judith White and Amanda Patrice White. She was predeceased by her cherished daughter Judith Patrice (White) Lafond. She leaves many nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends.
Patrice grew up in Taunton and had been a Raynham resident since her marriage in 1954.
A 1948 graduate of Taunton High School, she earned her undergraduate degree in English/education at Bridgewater State College and her Master’s degree at Lesley University.
Mrs. White taught English/Language Arts in the Taunton public schools for four years and in the Raynham schools for thirty years. She directed College Academy at Stonehill College for eight years and presented public speaking and writing classroom environment seminars at University of Massachusetts Boston, and at Bristol Community College. Patrice was a Raynham town correspondent for the Enterprise and the “Raynham Remembered” columnist for the Raynham Call.
Professional recognition included induction as the first woman and teacher into the LaLiberte Hall of Fame, and selection as a Woman in History in a social studies project. Patrice was featured as Ms. December in the Women of the Millenium Calendar in 2000. Mrs. White received two Horace Mann grants and wrote The History of Raynham, which was sold to the general public and adopted by the Raynham School System as the primary source book for the third grade unit on the history of the town. The Young Authors’ Convention, a writing process/ program that she designed and implemented, was selected as a “Site of Excellence” by the Southeast School/College Consortium.
Patrice’s busy lifestyle included involvement with the Raynham Council on Aging, the Raynham Historical Society, the Raynham Historical Commission, the Taunton Area American Heart Association, the Raynham 250th anniversary committee, Sigma Theta Phi Sorority, Kappa Delta Pi (a national honor society in education), the Bridgewater Raynham Regional School District Strategic Planning Committee, the Raynham Association of Volunteers in Education (R.A.V.E.), Saint Ann’s Sociable Seniors, Friends of the Raynham Public Library, and volunteering with Catholic Charities and the Raynham Food Basket and serving as a lector at St. Ann’s Church.
The Raynham Selectmen dedicated the 2010 Annual Raynham Town Report to Patrice “in honor of her many activities and achievements.” The R.A.V.E. award for exceptional dedication and commitment to the children of Raynham was presented to Patrice in April of 2012. Patrice was one of the team of historians that created a four-episode documentary titled Raynham.
In May of 2013 the Bridgewater-Raynham Regional School District presented Patrice with a certificate of appreciation “in recognition of a lifetime of outstanding service and dedication and innumerable contributions to education to the students of the Raynham public schools and the B-R district.” Funeral from the O'Keefe-Wade Funeral Home, 70 Washington St., Taunton, Ma 02780 on Saturday, August 24th at 9 am. Followed by a Mass of Christian Burial in St. Ann's Church in Raynham at 10 am. Relatives and friends are invited to visiting hours on Friday from 5-8 pm. Burial will be in the family lot in Pleasant St. Cemetery in Raynham.
At Patrice’s request, in lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to the White family at PO Box E, Raynham, MA 02767 for the benefit of Patrice's granddaughters' education fund.