Robert D. White, 68, Bartender For 40 Years -- Washington Native Spent `Lots Of Happy Times' At Jackens

Robert D. "Bob" White dedicated more than 40 years of his life to bartending, and he arrived home with a new tale after nearly every shift.

The stories, which he shared with his wife, Joy, often kept them laughing well into the morning.

"We were working the same hours, and we'd come home, sit around and talk, and he would tell me who did what," Joy White said. "We were always going to write them down, and he was going to name it `Over the Rocks.' "

Mr. White never chronicled the hundreds of stories. He preferred spending his spare time golfing, delivering carnations to his wife and treating her to lunch at her favorite lakeside cafes.

Mr. White died of emphysema Tuesday, June 24, at their Shoreline home. He was 68.

Born Sept. 18, 1928, in Wenatchee, Mr. White was raised in Soap Lake, Grant County, where his father was mayor and owned the Bob White Cafe. The family moved to Western Washington when he was a teen. Mr. White graduated from Seattle Preparatory School in 1946.

After completing one year at Seattle University, Mr. White married Gay Courtnay, his high-school sweetheart. Their marriage produced two children.

During the marriage, Mr. White served as a corporal for two years in the Korean War. He also worked as a salmon fisherman and a clerk in a Queen Anne grocery store. The couple divorced in 1954.

During the next five years, Mr. White married twice more, and pursued a career in bartending. He owned the 74th Street Tavern for several years before he began working at Jackens Restaurant in Greenwood in 1960.

Bartending was an important part of his life, and Mr. White enjoyed spending time and sharing good-hearted laughs with others. He was a member of the Bartenders Union for 40 years and managed the bar at Jackens for 25.

"Everybody (at Jackens) liked him," Joy White said. "He spent lots of happy times with the people."

It was at Jackens where Mr. White met his fourth wife, Joy White.

"A friend suggested that I stop by the restaurant, and when we did, she introduced us," his wife said.

They married in 1969. Mr. White continued working at Jackens; Joy White worked at a nearby restaurant. Through the years, they saved their tips and used the money for five vacations to Hawaii.

Mr. White, who worked at a number of places after Jackens closed in the mid-'80s, managed a Seattle-area Public Storage with his wife for eight years before he retired nine months ago.

Said Joy White: "We never spent one night apart except when he was in the hospital."

Other survivors include Mr. White's daughter, Randi White, of Los Angeles; his son, Evan White, of Pleasanton, Calif.; four stepchildren; and 13 grandchildren.

Services are scheduled for 11 a.m. tomorrow at St. Mark's Catholic Church, 18033 15th Place N.E., Shoreline.

Remembrances may be sent to Shoreline Medic One.