Jack F. White

Jack Farrington White was born in August 1898 in Jackson, Tennessee. He was the youngest son of Albert C. (AC) and Nancy Ellen White. He attended public schools in Jackson graduating when he was just 16. He then attended university in both Colorado Springs, CO and Jackson, TN earning a teaching certificate. He was a teacher and principal in Pinson, TN before leaving for New Orleans to join his older brother Sid in his cotton brokerage firm. Jack enlisted in the Marine Corps in August 1918 and served time in France during WWI. Upon honorable discharge in 1919, he then attended the University of Virginia Law School and graduated in 1922. He practiced law in Jackson and continued to work in the family cotton brokerages in New York, New Orleans, and Jackson. The 1920s Florida land boom was in full swing and rife with opportunities so Jack and his friend Tom Curtin, a Tennessean hed befriended at the University of Virginia, decided to move to Clearwater together. They shortly passed the bar exam and then joined a local law firm. Jack met and married Mary Carr Westbrook after a brief but intense courtship in the spring of 1925. They were married for over 40 years. After practicing law for a decade, Jack won the Democratic seat for Pinellas county in the Florida State Legislature in 1937. He served the legislative term in Tallahassee with distinction and was re-elected for a second term, Jack set his sights on running for County Judge and won that election in 1939. Judge White then began a long and distinguished career, serving both as County Judge and as an Appellate Judge on the Second District Court of Appeals in Lakeland, Florida. Known throughout the state for his depth of expertise on probate matters, Judge White was often called upon to sit in on cases by the Florida State Supreme Court Justices. Judge White was universally respected by his peers, attorneys, friends, and even individuals who he had sentenced to terms in jail. He had a keen sense of humor, ready smile, and a genuine love and concern for others. He had a way of making each person he spoke with feel special. He will always be remembered as a kind-hearted, giving individual who put service to his country, state, and community first among his priorities.