Constance Neville White

Constance Neville Rickard White died January 28, 2011, at the age of 93. Daughter of Brent N. and Edith C. Rickard, she came to El Paso as a young girl when her father was named manager of the ASARCO smelter. Connie lived at the smelter for several years before moving to Sunset Heights. She attended Dudley School and graduated from Radford School for girls and Scripps College, Claremont, CA. Connie and Wyndham Kemp White were married in 1939. They returned to El Paso after Wyndham’s Army service in Ecuador and the European Theater, World War II. They resided on Montana St. and then in the Upper Valley where they raised their family as well as generations of dogs, cats and horses while Wyndham practiced law. Connie enthusiastically supported her childrens’ schools as well as training and showing horses, little league, track, tennis and swimming. She especially encouraged their musical education, including learning piano pieces herself so that she could accompany her sons’ French horn solos. She, her children and eventually her grandchildren frequently attended symphony concerts together. All this while maintaining a mean game of tennis at El Paso Tennis Club and swimming miles at a time whenever she could find water. Connie is survived by four children: Edita (Jerry) Simmons, El Paso, TX; Anne (Jim) Airy, Beaux Arts, WA; Hugh, Petaluma, CA; Wyndham, Jr., Midland, TX; 5 grandchildren: Lee Simmons, Anne Simmons Gomes, Edward B. Simmons, Matthew W. Airy and Paige White; and 3 great-grandchildren: Jack Wyndham Simmons, Sophia Elizabeth Simmons and Ava Lynn Gomes. She is also survived by her brother, Brent N. Rickard and his wife Ruth, Laguna Hills, CA. Her husband Wyndham died in 1985. Special thanks to Juanita and Flor Nava for their unceasing love and loyalty. Graveside services are pending at Fort Bliss National Cemetery. Contributions may be made to the Rickard Memorial Scholarship c/o Church of Saint Clement, 810 N. Campbell 79902, or Radford School, 2001 Radford 79903. Services entrusted to Sunset Funeral Homes–West, 480 N. Resler, El Paso, Texas 79912. Please visit our online register book at www.sunsetfuneralhomes.net