JAMES WHITE

MIDDLEBURY — James White passed away on March 8, 2023, at the age of 85 years old. For the past eight months of his life, he was supported by the caring staff at Helen Porter Nursing home. As a “navy brat” Jim lived his younger years between Annapolis, California, and France before he settled down with his wife, June, in Pennsylvania, where they had two beautiful children, Jimmy and Wendy. He was predeceased by his wife, June, 25 years ago.

Jim began his career as an engineer at IBM, then transferred to Sales in IBM’s Banking Group. He left IBM to become VP in charge of IT for American Bank & Trust in Reading, Pa., and soon advanced to the same position in charge of IT at Manufacturers Hanover Trust Bank in New York City. After three years, he found his true passion as a problem solver, and pioneered the idea of monitoring and measuring the reliability of mainframe computers. He founded a company called Reliability Plus, Inc. in 1971, which thrived for nearly 30 years helping large enterprises monitor and benchmark the performance of its IT infrastructure.

After his business accomplishments, he dedicated roughly 10 years as a philanthropist supporting “Helping Hands”, a program based at Boston University, and fostered a capuchin monkey named “Cassie.” where he tirelessly visited different schools most days of the week socializing “Cassie” so that one day she would serve as a lifetime companion to people with paraplegia and quadriplegia needing daily assistance.

When Jim was not working, he spent his time as a voracious reader consuming books, examining all the nuances of modern-day politics. He will be remembered for his generous nature, providing some of the most memorable experiences for his family and many throughout the community.

In his later years, he was consumed by relaunching his company to develop software to solve more modern-day IT challenges, and he spent quality time with his partner of 26 years, walking some of Middlebury’s nature trails, enjoying Lake Dunmore, and watching movies. Despite all his health challenges in recent years, he never lost his humor or curiosity about life. One of his endearing qualities was his ability to laugh at himself.

Jim is survived by his partner, Nancy Tellier; daughter Wendy and husband Jamie Wakefield; son Jimmy and partner Jenny; grandchildren Julian, Ava, and Alex; along with his extended family Scott and Toni, as well as Leigh and Jeff and their families. ◊