Ann C. White

Ann Carol Craighead was born in Nashville, TN on February 13, 1940, to the late Robert Lincoln and Mary Elizabeth Smithson Craighead.  She was the second oldest of six children.  She attended St. Vincent de Paul Catholic school where her mother was a teacher.  She graduated from Cathedral High School in 1958 and attended Tennessee State University where she studied modern language.  While at Tennessee State, she became a member of the Delta Sigma Theta sorority and was crowned Miss Tennessee State.  Ann was a member of the French and Spanish Clubs, University Counselors, Alpha Kappa Mu Honor Society, Kappa Delta Pi, Pi Delta Phi, president of the Sigma Delta Pi Honor Society and Newman Club, and Co-Chair of the Women’s Senate Club.  She graduated in 1962 and followed in her mother’s footsteps by becoming an educator.  In 1965, she married Milton Jones White, II, an enlisted officer in the United States Air Force.  Together, they had five children before relocating to Northern Virginia where she was a highly sought-after language teacher.  A talented educator, Ann taught at every level including classes at Fisk University and Tennessee State University in Nashville. Ann had a gift of teaching in creative ways that sparked the imagination of students of various ages.  While she was in Northern Virginia, she taught Foreign Languages which included Spanish, French, German, and Latin.

After returning to Nashville, she worked alongside her mother and aunt, the late Mary Smithson Craighead and Sister Sandra Smithson, at Project Reflect which later became Smithson-Craighead Academy.  Ann was a devout Catholic, spreading God’s love through her warm and gentle nature, storytelling, and sense of humor.  She was a gifted hostess and conversationalist which served her well as a member of the Les Sophisticates Bridge Club. In addition to her parents, Ann was preceded in death by her brother, Carlton B. Craighead.  Ann is survived by husband, Milton J. White, II (USAF Ret. Col.); children, Milton White, III, Cristal Colon (Carlos), Wendell White (Susana), Valerie Lawrence (James), Michael White (Andrea); seventeen granddaughters, Victoria, Veronica, Vanessa and Vivica White of Nashville, Tatiana, Natalia, Angelina, Mikayla, Isabella, Adrianna and Alexia of Centreville, VA, Layla, Elisia, Amel and Julia Lawrence of Brooklyn, NY, Reyna and Chloe Colon of Centreville, VA; two brothers, Robert L. Craighead, Jr, (Nannette) and Don E. Craighead (Sharon); two sisters, Sandra M. Craighead and Lynn A. Allen (Gregory); and several nieces, nephews, cousins, other relatives, and cherished friends.