From the Archives

Priest, pastor, historian, story-teller par excellence and Oklahoma treasure are just of the few of the descriptions one could use for the recently-deceased Father James White. With a wry wit and a tinge of sarcasm, Father White served the Diocese of Oklahoma City and Tulsa, and later the Diocese of Tulsa, for more than 50 years. No one knew more about the history of the Church in Oklahoma than Father White, and no one could be more colorful and interesting in the rendering of that unique history.

A gifted and highly-intelligent man, James D. White was born in Chicago, Ill., on April 15, 1939. A convert to Catholicism at age 10, he quickly felt he was being called to the priesthood. He attended two seminaries as he sought to discern God’s call. Before his ordination, he worked in a bank in Chicago and then at the Catholic Church Extension Society that specialized in assisting rural ministry.  

After two years at Extension, he applied and was accepted as a seminarian for Oklahoma. After he finished his education at Assumption Seminary in San Antonio, Texas, he was ordained on Feb. 21, 1969, at Saint Joseph Catholic Church in Norman. His first pastoral assignment was Holy Family Cathedral in Tulsa, where he remained for three years. His natural curiosity moved him toward learning more about his new state and especially the Church in Oklahoma.  

At the encouragement of Bishop Reed, he began to research this history and capture volumes of information that would eventually lead to several books, including the magnificent “Diary of a Frontier Bishop,” using the diaries of Bishop Meerchaert to highlight early history. While the Bishop’s entries were sometimes brief, Father White’s footnotes were fascinating and often humorous. He penned books for each diocese containing histories of the parishes and brief summations of Oklahoma Church history. His necrology of all the clergy and religious who served in the state, published in 1985, is still a constant source of information for all who seriously study the Church in Oklahoma.

In 2005, on the hundredth anniversary of the establishment of the Diocese of Oklahoma, Father White was the star of the video presentation commemorating the history.  

Not only was he the go-to historian, but his career as a priest was also indeed admirable. With Poteau and its missions as his first pastorate, he renovated the church in Stigler and built a new one in Spiro. With the fall of Saigon and the influx of refugees into Fort Chaffee, Ark., he oversaw the sponsorship of 23 Vietnamese families.

With the restoration of the permanent diaconate after the Second Vatican Council, Father White was the director of the program starting from nothing. He held the office for eight years.

In 1978, he became the founding pastor of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux Catholic Church in Tulsa on the site that was supposed to have been the first seminary in the early 1930s, and due to a lack of funds became a girl’s school, the historical significance was not lost on Father White. In 1984, the church was completed.

Understanding the close ties of the church with the Osage tribe, he completed another book on that very issue while pastor at Fairfax.

Father White was officially appointed archivist for the Diocese of Tulsa in 2004, and his vast knowledge and insight were used to build an archive space complete with a state-of-the-art computer system for easy access. His mind never ceased creating and moving forward.

He retired to California and was priest in residence at a Los Angeles parish. Two years later, he retired from active ministry.

Returning home to Tulsa in 2018, he celebrated 50 years of priestly service in 2022 at the parish he founded: Saint Bernard of Clairvaux. With his passing on July 17, the Church in Oklahoma lost an important source who shared his encyclopedic knowledge with great energy. 

Father Jim White’s contributions as priest and historian were immense. His understanding of the human condition made him an effective purveyor of the faith and gave him a perspective necessary to dissect and comprehend the triumphs and foibles of that same humanity in history - and he loved preserving it. His passing leaves a void, but his writings continue to enlighten and impress.