A former Anaheim (Calif.) city parks commissioner, and the city’s longest-serving county parks and recreation commissioner, White is best known as the founder of Community ReLeaf Anaheim. Thinking that trees are not only good for turning carbon dioxide into oxygen, White thought that “neighborhoods that aren’t green are neighborhoods where people either don’t care or don’t have time to care,” said a ReLeaf spokesman. “She was a feisty broad with a big heart, and people found her charming. She was a catalyst.”
White convinced the city that trees help people feel a sense of community, improving the city and the residents’ quality of life, and ReLeaf planted 7,000 trees in Anaheim. “It’s an incredible legacy that will benefit this community for many years,” said Anaheim City Manager Jim Ruth. White died January 3 of complications from quadruple bypass surgery. She was 87.