Richard “Rich” Dudley White, 58, passed away on July 21, 2018, in Norfolk, Virginia. He succumbed to a heart attack.

Raised and beloved in storied Fort Dodge, Iowa, Rich married Mary Anna Newton, his grad-school sweetheart, in 1992. She survives him along with their son, Francis Hanrahan White.

Richard was born on February 28, 1960, in East Grand Rapids, Michigan, and grew up in Fort Dodge. His mother, Mary Virginia Hanrahan White, a single mother, and teacher died in 1980. Besides Mary Anna, a Granby High School Latin teacher, and Frankie, Rich is survived by siblings Regina (Jack Hayes) of Falls Church, Thomas of Norfolk and Victoria (Stan Fitterman) of Tampa, Florida, his father-in-law, Francis Lanneau Newton, of Chapel Hill, NC, other Newton in-laws and loads of adored Hanrahan, Ford, Darling, Fitterman, Newton and Patrick uncles, aunts, cousins, nieces, and nephews.

Richard graduated from St. Edmond High School in 1978. He received his bachelor’s degree from Iowa State University, earned his master’s degree in Classics from the University of Texas at Austin and studied at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. He spent a year as a fellow at the American School of Classical Studies in Athens.

For 16 years Richard was at Norfolk Collegiate School, where his son Frankie attended, across the street from Granby. Rich inspired a generation of students to realize their potential as learners and human beings. He helmed the Battle of the Brains academic team in addition to teaching Latin, Greek, and German, and for several years was an assistant cross country and track coach for Frankie’s teams. He previously taught at Old Dominion University and Virginia Wesleyan College. In truth, however, he taught wherever he was.

In grade school, he had a paper route, delivering the Des Moines Register in his Fort Dodge neighborhood. In high school, he worked at Wigdahl's Bookstore in downtown Fort Dodge, mysteriously spending many more hours there than would appear on his paycheck because there were so many books there just waiting to be read before and after his shift.

He was known for his lifelong habit of buying books that he already happily owned because he knew that he would soon encounter someone who would really benefit from reading it.