In addition to her successful job in healthcare, Darcy White had a side gig as a musical director for several theaters in Portland, frequently working on two productions at once. White passed away on December 4. Lung cancer was the cause of death.
White, the youngest of four children, grew up in Portland. Her family had immigrated from Canada to Portland. Her father, Max, ran a tour company named Churchill Tours, while her mother, Freda, was a stay-at-home mom.
Archive of the Darcy White Family
The family placed a high value on music. According to White’s sister Cherie Shaver, we were taught that family, church, and music were the three most important things in life. When we were old enough to comprehend, we were all told that we would all take piano lessons for ten years, whether we wanted to or not.
From the age of four, White had a talent for playing the piano. Shaver claimed that Darcy had a special talent for it from a young age. Her ear was fine. She had bigger hands. She had a slightly easier life than the rest of us because she could reach an octave and a half. However, she also possessed the remarkable talent of sight reading nearly everything that was presented to her. And the music grew more intricate as she grew older. There were things she could do that the rest of us couldn’t.
White performed piano in the pit orchestra for school musicals while attending Lincoln High School and Ainsworth Elementary.
After being admitted to the University of Washington’s music program, White left after a few semesters due to the overwhelming size of the institution.
Archive of the Darcy White Family
She got a job working at Nordstrom, in the lingerie department, while she was figuring out what to do next with her life. At last, she made the decision to become a nurse. She received her degree from Linfield University’s nursing school. White chose not to pursue a career in obstetrics or as a floor nurse during his school rotation. She ultimately decided to pursue a career as a psychiatric nurse.
White kept playing music as she went to school and started her nursing career. According to Shaver, she became the musical director of a local church after making a connection with them.
She quickly started working in a children’s theater. She served as a music director of Oregon Children s Theatre and Northwest Children s Theater and School. White also worked at Stumptown Stages and Broadway Rose Theatre Company, and she was the music director for Lakewood Center for the Arts.
Music directors are in charge of the music. They coach the kids. They practice with the kids, Shaver said. They make sure that kids have memorized lyrics. They would make sure that if there were duets, or if there was group singing, that everybody was on key, and everybody s doing what they re supposed to do given the cues. They also distribute the music and set the schedules for practice.
She was proud of the kids that she met. She watched them go from being nervous to sing on stage to coming off with a huge round of applause. Watching them doing so well and feel so good about themselves, that s really what she wanted for them, to grow their confidence.
Archive of the Darcy White Family
She was distinct in her grace, her fire, her empathy, said her friend and musical theater colleague, Jennifer Goldsmith. Her goal was to create a safe and creative space. With her background as a psych nurse, she was a very empathetic person. She could read a room more clearly than many, and she was a professional, and wanted to make sure that everyone knew their roles and their parts. It was very fun, exciting, and warm to work with Darcy.
Her experience in musical theater had exposed her to working with children, and after working as a psych nurse for a while, she decided she wanted to work in the adolescent drug and rehab field. She always had the ability to connect with teenagers, Shaver said. She saw a lot of stuff that was happening inside their families, inside their lives, and that fueled her want to continue down that path. She had had some difficulty at Ainsworth Elementary with bullying, and I think she recognized that in some of the adolescents, and so could connect with them a little bit better than others.
White eventually got a job at Providence Health Systems, working her way to a position as the senior manager of provider relations and behavioral health network. She was very concerned about making sure that health care was available to all economic levels, all people, whether they had the ability to pay or not pay. She believed strongly in that, Shaver said.
Darcy WhiteFamily archive
Shaver put all her energy toward work and theater. She would get up, go to the gym, go to work, go to rehearsal, come home, go to bed, and start all over again the next day. She was doing a full time job plus two shows at the same time, so she really didn t leave herself a lot of room for anything other than that, Shaver said.
White will be remembered for her warmth and sense of humor. She was one of those people that walked in a room and people just swarmed to her. It could be a room full of strangers, but before the end of the evening, she was talking with them like they were old friends, usually laughing, Shaver said. When she talked to you, she made you feel like you were the most important person.
White s lung cancer may have been caused by radon exposure in two of her homes. White advocated for years bring attention to the cancer risk of radon.
Darcy is survived by her sisters, Cherie Shaver and Sam Earle; her brother, Craig White; and many nieces and nephews. A publicmemorial serviceis planned for 7 p.m. Monday, Jan. 27, 2025, at Broadway Rose Theatre in Tigard. A private memorial will take place earlier.
Darcy WhiteFamily archive
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