Minerd.com Biography of Charles Minor and Fay Stark (Shoemaker) White of Valley Township, Kingman and Wichita, KS

Charles Minor White
(1884-1944)

Charles Minor White was born on Leap Day (Feb. 29), 1884 at Haseville, Linn County, MO, the son of Lester and Susan (McCarty) White.

As a newborn, Charles moved with his parents to Isabel, Barber County, KS, shortly afterward to be joined by his grandparents, uncles, aunts and young cousins.

Charles was tall and of medium build as an adult, with blue eyes and brown hair.

In about 1910, when both were about age 26, Charles married Fay Stark Shoemaker (1884-1951), daughter of John and Fay (Stark) Shoemaker. She is said to have been a seamstress, animal lover and piano player.

In 1910, the federal census shows the newlywed couple residing in Valley Township in Barber County. Under their roof that year was Fay's widowed mother. Living next door was Charles' sister and brother in law, Nona and George Washington Sellers and children. Both men were listed with occupations as farmers.

Wichita's busy Douglas Avenue

Charles was required to register for the military draft during World War I. He disclosed that he was self-employed in farming and that Fay was his next of kin.

As farmers, Charles and Fay lived near Nashville, Kingman County, KS, in the mid-1920s and early 1930s. In 1932, they relocated again to Wichita, where he labored as a flour mill operator. Their son is known to have moved to Wichita in 1926, so perhaps the entire family was there at that time as well.

Fay outlived him by several years. She passed away in 1951, at the age of 67. They are buried at Wichita Park Cemetery, beside their son Minor and grandson Charles.

Minor Fay White
Courtesy Sharron Simms

Son Minor Fay White (1913-1951) was born in 1913 in Isabel, KS.

He moved to Wichita in 1926, when he was age 13, although his parents are not known to have relocated there until about 1932. He graduated from Wichita East High School in 1935 and held a job as a baker. He held a membership in the Bestor G. Brown lodge of the Masons.

Minor entered into marriage with Nina Mae Sutter (1911-1991), also spelled "Sutten."

Minor joined the U.S. Army in 1936 and was assigned as an infantryman. Then after the outbreak of World War II, he transferred to the Army Air Corps. Said the Wichita Eagle, he served as engineer-pilot of the C-47 aircraft, "Nina Mae," named after his wife. He was the crew chief of the lead C-47 which took part in several "important missions for paratroop-drops in the European theater," including in the invasions of Sicily and Italy and then in Cherbourg, France on D-Day in June 1944. His vehicle was described as a "paratroop-hauling, glider-towing skytrain plane."

He was involved in the very first airplane transport of paratroopers during the invasion of Sicily, dropping "from a height of only 200 feet, amid 'terrific' anti-aircraft fire," reported with Eagle. "He said the third of his three trips over Sicility was the easiest, since by that time the troops already landed had silenced many of the enemy batteries. Speaking of the paratroopers, Sergeant White said they 'were game men.' 'It takes a lot of courage,' he said, 'to jump out of a plane at night under heavy fire, and they knew when they did that it might be their last jump. It was for some of them, but we learned later that the others had reached their objective and accomplished what they had been ordered to do [and] took the airport at Gela."

Writing home to his wife about his D-Day experience, his sixth combat mission, Minor said that

His letter home was printed in the Wichita Beacon. He went on to serve in England, Germany, Holland, Belgium, Austria, Africa, South America and Ireland. As of September 1944, he was part of the 9th troop carrier command under the leadership of Brig. Gen. Paul L. Williams, commanding flights into Sicily and Italy.

While at the 9th carrier base in the European Theatre in the late summer of 1944, Minor had an opportunity to meet and speak with Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, at the time the Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force in Europe. In an article picturing Minor, the Beacon reported that:

Said the Eagle, Minor "received many distinguished honors, among them the presidential citation from General Eisenhower; the enlisted air crew badge; American theater ribbon; American defense ribbon; E.A.M.E. ribbon; good conduct medal; air medal with three oak leaf clusters; distinguished unit bade with one oak leaf cluster; American air force distinctive service patch."

During the Korean War, he served again and was wounded in an evacuation, receiving the Purple Heart. That that time, he resided in Spanaway, WA, and was a crew chief on a C-124 airplane, stationed at McChord Air Field near Tacoma.

Above: McChord Air Field's camouflaged airplane hangars. Below: Minor and son Charles "Minor" (courtesy Sharron [McPherson] White Simms) and 1951 obituary.

On Aug. 25, 1951, while on maneuvers at McChord, Minor tragically was killed in an airplane crash, a casualty of the Korean War. The Air Force did not publicly release the details of Minor's grisly death. In a news story, his hometown newspaper, the Wichita Eagle, simply reported that he "was killed in an airplane crash at Tacoma...."

Minor's remains were returned to Kansas for burial with his parents at Wichita Park Cemetery. The funeral was led by Rev. R.L. Woods of the Meridian Baptist Church. He rests under a beautiful, flat red barre granite marker.

Wichita Park Cemetery

The widowed Nina Mae outlived Minor by four decades. She was "a teacher of educable retarded children" for a number of years in Wichita, according to the 1971 book, Ancestral and Chronological History and Lineage of the Family of Luther White and Mahala (Minor) White, Their Forbears and Descendants, 1665-1971, by Jeanette Blanche (Clark) Tarter, Edith M. (Peterie) Hoyt and Verda (White) Richey.

Her home address in 1966 was at 2334 North Roosevelt at the time her son Harry received his Boy Scouts Eagle badge.

Nina maintained good relations with her late husband's family. She spent time in August 1975 with Minor's cousin Blanche Tarter, author of the White book. Blanche in turn wrote of this visit to her son Paul, with the son replying: "Your visit with Mrs. Nina White (I notice she is about my age) must have been interesting and rewarding. Inasmuch as both of her sons' middle names are Minor, either she or her husband must have been proud of the name."

In October 1977, Nina is known to have visited again with Blanche Tarter in the Tarter home in Raytown, near Kansas City. "We talked a good deal about the Minor History," Blanche wrote in a letter to her son:

Capt. Minor White, as you know, was stationed several years in Germany. He married Sharron McFarland of Houston [sic], Texas and he had an apartment over there. Nina went over there to visit them and toured the country as much as she could. She saw in Heidelberg, Germany, a bust of a man named Sir Minor, among busts of famous men. She is positive that he was our ancestor and I think so too.

Charles "Minor" White and his plaque at the 388th Tactical Fighter Wing simulator building at Hill AFB, Utah - courtesy Sharron (McPherson) White Simms

Minor White and newborn son
Courtesy Sharron Simms

Son Charles "Minor" White (1946-1979) was born on Oct. 5, 1946 in Topeka, KS. He appears to have been named for his grandfather. Minor was only five years of age at his father's tragic death. In 1969, he received a bachelor's degree in aeronautical engineering, magna cum laude, from Wichita State University. He was active with the campus reserve officers training corps (ROTC) and held the rank of colonel and was awarded a Legion of Valor. He then earned a masters degree in aeronautical engineering from the University of Arizona, having earned a scholarship from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Minor became a pilot and captain in the U.S. Air Force. During the final era of the Vietnam War, he was deployed to Thailand. Then in 1973, he was stationed at Ramstein Air Base in Ramstein-Miesenbach, Germany.

While at an Oktoberfest celebration in the Ramstein officer's club, in 1973, Minor met his future wife Sharron McPherson ( ? -living). She had grown up in Llano, TX and had gone to nursing school in Austin. At the time they met, she was employed as a civilian nurse at the 2nd General Hospitalin Landstuhl. They were united in matrimony in November 1974, in Germany, and as newlyweds made a home in an apartment in Meisenbach. The couple returned stateside in September 1976 with a posting to Hill Air Force Base in Utah. Circa 1977, they resided in Ogden, UT, at the address of 22425 East Bonneville Terrace Drive, and he traveled frequently on Air Force business to Dayton, Ohio. One son was born to the couple, Brandon Minor White.

Wichita Park Cemetery

Minor is known to have been a member of the 421st Tactical Fighter Squadron and instrumental in helping to develop a F-16 fighter simulator. The F-16, known as the "Fighting Falcon" and "Viper," was a supersonic, single-engine multirole fighter that could be deployed in any weather. Today it's not only used by the Air Force but also the U.S. Navy and the Air Force Thunderbirds, an air demonstration squadron, as well as scores of other countries' air forces. Then from 1977 to 1979, he was part of the 4444th Operations Squadron.

Grief blanketed the family when Charles was diagnosed with lymphoma. As the cancer spread widely, he was admitted to the Wilford Hall Air Force Medical Center at Lackland Air Force Base in Bexar County, TX, where he underwent treatment for 125 days. There was no possible cure. He passed away on Jan. 11, 1979 at the untimely age of 32. He is interred with his parents and grandparents at Wichita Park Cemetery. The inscription on his marker reads: "He loved us." On May 19, 1982, the 388th Tactical Fighter Wing's F-16 simulator facility at Hill Air Force Base in Utah was dedicated in his name.

Son Harry Minor White (1950-2010) was born on Sept. 27, 1950 and was only 10 months old when his father was killed. He grew up in Wichita, at 2334 North Roosevelt, and was an Eagle Scout. Harry was an alumnus of Wichita Heights High School and Wichita State University. On May 27, 1972, he was joined in wedlock with Wichita State classmate Linda L. Hamilton ( ? - ? ), daughter of Dr. James G. and Lois M. Hamilton. Their nuptials were held in a garden in Winfield, KS, officiated by Rev. Harold E. Nelson, and Linda's bridal portrait was published in the Wichita Eagle. Together they produced a family of two sons, Benjamin Minor White and Austin James White. Harry initially was employed as an engineer with Cessna Aircraft Company, headquartered in Wichita. By 1972, he had joined the workforce of Pratt and Whitney and moved to Hartford, CT. They remained in Hartford for several years and eventually returned to Wichita. Said an obituary, "He was a propulsion DER and thoroughly loved the aviation business. He valued the many friends that he developed over the years through both work and church. The Communicators Sunday school class has provided a constant service of strength." He passed away in Kansas at the age of 59 on Feb. 4, 2010. Funeral services were held in the College Hill United Methodist Church. An obituary was published in the Eagle, with the family suggesting that any memorial contributions be made to the College Hill United Methodist Church Trinity Garden or the Boy Scouts of America.