Nora Lizabeth White McSheehy passed from this life on January 1, 2015, at her home in Cross Roads, Texas.
She was born in Columbus, Ohio, on September 15, 1956, the daughter of the late Ralph Hay and Carol Hay. She graduated from Buckeye High School in 1974 and earned a Bachelor of Arts in Social Sciences (magna cum laude) from Urbana University, Urbana, Ohio, her Master of Arts in Early and Middle Childhood Education and Reading and her doctorate in Reading, Language, and Literature Education from The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio. She also received a Post-doctoral Fellowship in Literacy as Social and Cultural Practice from the University of Western Sydney, Sydney, NSW Australia.
Dr. White dedicated her 30-year career to early literacy, literacy as social and cultural practices and qualitative inquiry and to instructing pre- and in-service teachers. Dr. White began her teaching career in the Columbus, Ohio, public schools and her university teaching at the University of Alaska-Fairbanks. During her tenure at the University of Alaska, Dr. White served as coordinator for the Russian Far East Student Exchange program which allowed her to travel to Yakutsk, Siberia, to recruit students. In 2000, she joined faculty at Texas Woman’s University (TWU), Denton campus in the Department of Reading. While at TWU, Dr. White was promoted to professor and contributed in many ways to the university. She served on many important committees including Chair of the University Promotion and Tenure Committee and the University Information Technology Committee as well as Speaker of the Faculty Senate. Dr. White also received two prestigious awards: the Innovation in Academia for her work in innovative use of technology in teaching and the Uhlir Endowed Fellowship in Higher Education Administration which was established to inspire people to be administrators in higher education.
She is survived by her beloved husband, Don McSheehy; mother, Carol Hay; and sister, Kelli. She is also survived by two sons, Luke White and Daniel McSheehy; and two grandchildren, Logan and Juliet White.
Nora will be remembered for her commitment to her students and colleagues, her numerous leadership roles across the university, and her amazing courage and strength in her 10-year fight against cancer. She was a loving wife, mother, sister, grandmother, aunt and a special friend to many. A service to celebrate Nora’s life will be held on February 5 at 3 p.m. at the Little Chapel in the Woods, on the Texas Woman’s University campus, Denton. Flowers should be sent to the residence, or in lieu of flowers, make contributions in Nora’s name to your favorite charity.
