Wynema White

Wynema Whitcomb White. This is her story: This woman LIVED ….an amazing and often magical life!

Born Wynema Robertson, her journey started in 1920. Over the last 99 years this journey took her to every state in the union and to every associated Indian Reservation. It all started on August 14, 1920 on a ranch near the very small town of Elida, New Mexico….an old cowboy and outlaw watering hole of the late 1800s. She then, at the age of 3, along with her brother Jimmie, was taken to Portales, NM under the tutelage of Mr. and Mrs. C.J. Whitcomb. It was in Portales where she graduated with Honors from Portales High School and won a plane trip to Washington D.C. by virtue of her essay, “Wings Over America” in May of 1938. She then went on to graduate from Eastern New Mexico University with a degree in Business.

After achieving her educational goal, she would return home with her new husband Floyd Ellis. Married life brought her exciting travel, for Floyd was a military man, and the most exciting addition of a beautiful son, Craig.

As happens, life’s blessings are sometimes traded for life’s sorrows. She then found herself in Santa Fe, NM where she was an editor on the New Mexican….the newspaper. She lived on a famous “artsy” street named Camino del Monte Sol and hobnobbed with artists such as Georgia O’Keefe and ate frog legs at El Nido in Tesuqe after skiing all day in Taos!

One day, as she was feverishly working on the paper a handsome man appeared …..a friend of a friend! This lovely man was an immigrant from Germany and barley spoke English…..she was enthralled!....and the rest is history!

She married this blue eyed, dark haired man and became Mrs. Gunther Carl Kroggel. He then moved her to Socorro, New Mexico to the house he had built for her. Their life seemed complete with the entertaining, the travel to Mexico, and the occasional stuffed sopapilla but it was not until the birth of their daughter Lynne, deemed a miracle, that life actually was complete. She shared this joy with her dearest of friends Kathryn Shrode….the horse racing enthusiast that had a race horse named after her, “Kathryn’s Doll” and owned a popular radio station in this little town. The name of which was KSRC….Kathryn Shrode’s Royal Court!

But life once again took a turn and she found herself in Albuquerque, New Mexico managing a high rise apartment building. She was in her element managing not only the administrative infrastructure but also the facility itself. Then an opportunity of a life time presented itself……she became the Executive Director of the Zuni Housing Authority (in other words the 1st woman housing manager of an Indian Tribe in the nation!) and lived at Zuni, New Mexico. She, a native herself of the Lakota Tribe, was at home here. She traveled with the Governor, Edison Laselute, throughout the southwest and to Washington, D.C. where he presented to Congress. It was this work that enabled her to move to Washington, D.C and work for the National Tribal Council Association, lobbying for the Indians in Congress, and providing informational reports to the Smithsonian. During this period she met an upstanding gentleman, Clarence White, who worked for the secretary of Housing and Urban Development, and became his wife.

Life was once again grand…..the entertaining of senators, tribal leaders, and jazz artists. The evenings spent at the Kennedy Center watching the ballet Swan Lake and the afternoons spent at the National Gallery of Art. She had a beautiful life in the nation’s capital……but yearned for the beauty of New Mexico.

In October of 2004 she made it home to celebrate her daughter’s marriage and to once again embrace the country she loved so much….the country that held her heart.

The Lord called her name on February 28, 2020. She leaves behind caregivers who became family (Ben, whose daughter is named after her, and Magarita, her “second daughter”), Reyna, a young woman so dear, and Wendy, a very special friend. Her daughter, Lynne, who loved her and loves her “Best in the Whole Wide World” and a son-in-law Tommy, who became her “special lil’ buddy”, and her husband of many years, Clarence. All are better off because of her influence. And although she is not with us anymore we know she is looking down on us saying, “Let us toast to the last fling (with a bit of champagne!)”.

A Memorial Service has been postponed. Please check back here for updates.