Don't 'Little Old Lady' Me!

It may be destiny that Maribell White, was born in a town that matches her nature: Independence. From her earliest days of living in this southeast Kansas community, White has fostered an independent spirit throughout her life and career.

Never turning down an opportunity to demonstrate her independent spirit, White is pictured riding on the back of friend John Range's motorcycle.

Celebrating her 81st birthday on April 8, White is helping to break down stereotypical attitudes of seniors and people with disabilities. Sometimes even well-intentioned people offer help or make wrong assumptions about her ability.

"While crossing the street, someone grabbed my arm, presuming I needed help," she said. A clerk in a store treated her like she was simple minded. She even has a term for it: being "little old ladied."

Now living in Versailles, Ky., White is writing and recording some of her own experiences under the title, "I've Been Little Old Ladied, Again."

A panorama of life events started after graduating high school in 1945. She studied one year at a junior college, then enrolled at Mercy Hospital School of Nursing in Independence. Since she already had some college education before coming to CSU, she entered the occupational therapy program as a sophomore in 1949 at what was then Colorado A & M.

When she arrived on campus after WWII, it was "flooded with men. But I didn't manage to catch a one," she chuckled.

While in college, White nurtured her interest in the theater by performing in several plays. The Collegian billed her as the "daffy Mrs. Savage" lead role in The Curious Savage, and she played the mother of the bride in Blood Wedding. She also played Amanda in The Glass Menagerie and spent summers performing at playhouses in Michigan and Maine.

White completed the baccalaureate program in three years, graduating in 1952, the first class after OT became accredited.

White's clinical training was at Children's Hospital in Denver; Hines, Ill.; Virginia; and the University of Minnesota Hospitals at Minneapolis. Her first job was at the Jacksonville (Ill.) State Mental Hospital, then at the American Legion Hospital in Battle Creek, Mich. After almost five years, she moved back to Kansas and worked at The Institute of Logopedice in Wichita, where many of the residents had speech and physical impairments.

In 1963 she moved from Kansas to Kentucky to work at the Frankfort State Hospital and School. When that school closed in the early 1970s, she moved to the Diagnostic and Evaluation facility, which closed in 1975. In order to stay in Versailles, she accepted a job at Eastern State Hospital in nearby Lexington, where she worked as a nurse until retiring in 1987.

Lori Sims, director of development for the College of Applied Human Sciences says, "Maribell is one of the college's most loyal donors, sending gifts nearly every month over the past decade." Reconnecting with her alma mater occurred quite naturally. "I had been gone from Colorado for about 12 years," said White. "Then, there was a special course offered under Miss (Marjorie) Ball which I took and after that got involved again." Ball was the department head between 1951 and 1972.

If there's anyone who embodies the spirit of youth and vitality, it's Maribell," said Sims. "She brings goodness, humor, and generosity at every turn. And one never knows if she'll be on the back of a motorcycle around the next corner!"

Originally published in the Spring 2008 College of Applied Human Sciences newsletter:

www.cahs.colostate.edu/alumni_friends/magazines/files/2008Spring.pdf

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Contact:  Lori Sims
Telephone:  970.491.5669
Email:  Lori.Sims@colostate.edu