Edwin White
Edwin White
Full Name:  Jehiel Edwin White
     Born:  May 13, 1904, Maysville, Ky.
     Died:  March 2, 1983, Tallahassee, Fla.

Legacy Bricks:  Legacy Walk Map Link
   1983 Moore-Stone Award HOF - Loc 54


FSU Career
Moore-Stone Award

                                                                 


Member of the FSU Hall of Fame
Elected into the FSU Hall of Fame in 1983
The Florida State University Athletic Department Presents the Moore-Stone Award for Outstanding Service to Florida State Athletics to J. Edwin White.

Born in Kentucky, Mr. White moved to Tallahassee in 1911 and resided there until his death on March 2, 1983. A prominent banker, Mr. White was deeply involved in civic and charitable work in Tallahassee. A life-long supporter of Florida State College for Women and Florida State University, he was a great friend of FSU football. His special interest was Florida State baseball and the Seminoles' great success in that sport has been due in no small part to the generosity of Mr. White. Seminoles everywhere thank him for his steadfast support and mourn his passing.


Jehiel Edwin White Obituary

Published by the Tallahassee Democrat on May 4, 1983, page 10.

Local S&L leader J. Edwin White dead at 78

By Michael Gilliam, Democrat staff writer

J. Edwin White, who helped to start one of the first federal savings and loan associations in the North Florida area and who walked the streets of Tallahassee to solicit depositors, died Wednesday. He was 78.

White, who came with his parents to Tallahassee in 1911, was instrumental in the founding of Tallahassee Federal Savings and Loan Association, which is now known as Security First Federal.

Born in Maysville, Ky., White was a 1924 graduate of Leon High School. Unable to attend the University if Florida as he had hoped, he took a job for $12 a week unloading railroad boxcars.

In 1933, the Home Owners Loan Act was passed by Congress, allowing Depression-era families to refinance their homes without fear of repossession. It was then that White and the original directors applied for a federal charter to start the association.

When Tallahassee Federal opened its doors in 1934, deposits totaled $1,500, most of which White collected while pounding the pavement of the capital city, which then had a population of less than 5,000.

He recorded the transactions in a book he carried with him. It was one of his most prized possessions.

Before merging last April with Security First Federal in Daytona, Tallahassee Federal's assets stood at $250 million.

But nearly 50 years ago, White worked in an office without a telephone and without a salary.

Working as managing officer, he later became president. He retired as chairman of the board and remained a member of the board until his death.

He also started the custom of "bank tents," when 20 years ago he asked a customer, Victor Brown, to put up a tent he was planning to buy.

Brown agreed and soon the pink-and-white tent, with "Tallahassee Federal" printed on the valance, appeared all over town. Several other banks followed suit with their own tents.

Survivors include his wife, Norma B. White of Tallahassee; one daughter, Amelia W. Rowell of Sopchoppy; one brother, Clarence A. White of Tallahassee; one sister, Annie Laurie White of Tallahassee; and two grandchildren.



FSU Statistics