ARLINGTON HEIGHTS — Father Francis P. White, the oldest member of the Viatorian community, passed away peacefully on June 7, at the Viatorian Province Center in Arlington Heights. He was born Sept. 19, 1917 in Springfield, the son of Joseph and Mary Loretta (Nollen) White. He was 97 years old and had served as a Roman Catholic priest for more than 70 years.

Father White attended Cathedral Boys High School in Springfield, where he first met the Viatorians. Shortly after graduating, he professed his first vows in 1937 as a Viatorian brother. He was ordained a priest in 1944, after earning his bachelor's degree in Latin from St. Ambrose College, and before earning a master's degree in school administration from the University of Illinois.

His ministry took him across the country and around the world, literally. His first assignment came in 1944, when he taught at St. Joseph School for the Deaf in the Bronx, before he returned to Illinois to teach at St. Philip High School in Chicago and Cathedral Boys High School in Springfield.

When the Viatorians opened a high school in Kyoto, Japan in 1948, they turned to Father White to be its principal and superior, a title he held at Rakusei High School in Kyoto until 1956.

Upon returning from Japan, he served as chaplain at Mother of Sorrows Institute in Blue Island. In 1957, he returned to Cathedral Boys High School in Springfield as teacher and dean of studies. During 1961-1963, he served as spiritual director for novices entering the community at the Viatorian Novitiate in Arlington Heights, and then as principal at Spalding Institute in Peoria from 1963-1970.

The latter part of his ministry was spent in pastoral work, mostly in Las Vegas. He led St. Viator Parish as pastor from 1970-1979. He moved back to Illinois as pastor of two parishes, Immaculate Conception, Carthage and St. Mary's, West Point until 1983. He once again returned to Las Vegas to serve at Guardian Angel Cathedral as associate pastor until 2006, when he retired to the Viatorian Province Center in Arlington Heights.

He is preceded in death by his parents and his three brothers, Lee, Nollen and Joseph. He is survived by one niece, Lee Frances White and her husband Bill Lagerstrom of Hampden, Maine.

Visitation and funeral Mass for Father White were held June 12 at the Viatorian Province Center in Arlington Heights. Interment was in the Viatorian plot at Queen of Heaven Catholic Cemetery in Hillside.