Anyone who knew Jen White didn’t doubt that she would give up her own life to save her kids.
“Her family was her life,” said friend Diane Raynes. “She was such a hardworking mom, devoted to her family.”
Jennifer “Jen” White, 32, of Gunnison, died Monday in a Hawaii hospital, two days after diving into powerful surf and currents on the Hawaiian island of Kauai to save her son Aaron, 8. After pulling him to shore, she dived back into the 8-foot waves and strong riptide to search for her older son, Tyler, 9, who was carried out to sea on the east side of the island, near the Anahola Beach Park.
His body had not been found as of Monday evening.
A bystander who watched as a large wave hit her managed to drag her out of the ocean onto the beach, exhausted and barely alive. She never recovered and died Monday morning at Wilcox Memorial Hospital.
White, her husband, James “Chris” White, and their two sons and a daughter had been living on Kauai since March 5, where Chris is building a private home with his brother. The family was due to return to Gunnison on May 17.
“They were such a wonderful family,” said neighbor Lisa Brown, a fourth-grade teacher and mother of two boys. “If they were driving into town to get a pizza, they’d just stop and pick up our kids. They never expected to be paid back.
“This has been rough on everyone in the community.”
Dated in high school
Jen and Chris started dating in high school in Illinois and moved to Colorado after marriage.
Jen and Chris went to high school together in Illinois and started dating at age 16. They married two weeks after graduating, at age 18, on June 6, 1992. They moved to Lake City, Colo., where Chris’ brother lived, then to Gunnison five years ago, according to close friend Wendy Dusbabek. In addition to their two boys, they had Kylie, who is 4.
Aaron and Kylie remain in Hawaii with their father, and family friends from Gunnison left Monday to be with them, the Whites’ pastor said.
“Jen was very spiritual, so much so that she home- schooled her kids this past year,” said Dusbabek. “In one sense, the last year of her life was very good. If you knew you were going to die, then Jen would have wanted to spend the last year home with her children, which she did. It also allowed her and her kids to go with Chris to Hawaii.”
Jen never shied away from work, her friends said.
“She ran several businesses from her house,” said Raynes. “She did everything for her family, for her children.”
Dusbabek recalled how excited the Whites were when they were hired to build a house in Hawaii. “Jen made sure Chris got all his projects finished. She even got out and hung drywall with him to help him finish. She hung siding, she helped paint. They were so excited,” she said.
23-hour search
A small search vessel, a fixed-wing aircraft and a large helicopter joined in the search – to no avail.
U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer Jennifer Johnson said Monday that the Coast Guard received a call to search just before noon Saturday. The Coast Guard immediately dispatched a small search vessel, then a fixed-wing aircraft a few hours later. That evening, a large helicopter joined the search, flying 13 search patterns that covered 96 square miles, she said. The search was suspended 23 hours later, at 10:45 a.m. Sunday.
A 17-year-old Hawaiian boy was lost in the surf off the same beach Saturday and has not yet been found, the Coast Guard said.
Rick Barton, pastor of the New Song Church in Gunnison, said Jen White will be buried in Illinois. A memorial service will be held in Gunnison but has not yet been scheduled.
Contributions to a memorial fund can be sent to New Song Church, P.O. Box 356, Gunnison, CO 81230.
Staff writer Mike McPhee can be reached at 303-820-1409 or mmcphee@denverpost.com.
