Joanne "Jody" Carol White was born on December 20, 1948 to Robert and Elizabeth (Bashelor) Mason on the naval base in San Juan Puerto Rico. She died on June 18, working cattle and doing what she loved on the family ranch in Jay Em, Wyoming. Jody grew up on naval bases around the country, but her heart always longed for Wyoming and she dreamed of life on a cattle ranch. She graduated from high school in 1967 in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and then realized her dream by attending the University of Wyoming.
While at a dance at the University, she met a blue eyed cowboy and determined that this was the man she would one day marry. Jody married the love of her life, LeRoy "Butch" White on September 18, 1970 in Laramie, Wyoming. She and Butch along with Butch's parents, Mort and Jessie White, moved to the Bridger Valley and began their great adventure of raising registered Hereford Cattle and kids in Robertson, Wyoming. Jana, Joel and Coby kept her running and active in 4-H, FFA, Wyoming Junior Hereford Association, rodeo and various other activities over the years. One of her greatest joys was working alongside her family on the ranch. She was in her element as a ranch wife and mother and she loved every part of this way of life; the good and the bad, the beautiful and the hard. She would tell you that it was in the difficult situations in life that her faith in God was refined and her character was made into the sturdy stuff that ranch women are known for.
Butch and Jody also ranched in Buffalo, Wyoming, Douglas, Wyoming, Elsmere, Nebraska and finally in Jay Em, Wyoming. Her heart was in Wyoming, but she also gave a big piece of it to the sandhills of Nebraska and its people. In each community that Jody lived she made lifelong friends and forged strong bonds. She didn't know a stranger and didn't have an enemy. Her church family extends from one end of the state to the other as well as in the Sandhills. Jody wrote columns for the Cattle Country News, the Wyoming Roundup and The Fencepost. She also authored and co-authored two books. She loved to write about her faith, her family and the agricultural way of life and made it a goal to defend it with the written word. She was quite the cowboy poet and did some traveling and sharing of her wit and wisdom with other ranch women. Jody also enjoyed quilting and gardening. She loved the quiet simplicity of her life.
Jody's family was her greatest source of joy and accomplishment and more precious to her than any material possession. She has handed down a strong heritage and legacy of faith, family, strong work ethic and perseverance to her children and grandchildren. Jody's faith and trust in her Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, is what shaped and guided her to be the woman that she was. Her love of Christ defined who she was in this life and where her hope was found in the next. We know that she went from being horseback one moment to being welcomed with "Well done, good and faithful servant" the next.
She is survived by her husband, Butch of Jay Em, her daughter and son-in-law Jana and Mike Fraley of Buffalo, her son and daughter-in-law Joel and Karri White of Buffalo, her son and daughter-in-law Coby and Lisa White of Lusk, her daughter-in-law Cora Twombly of Oklahoma. A sister and brother-in-law Robin and Ralph Gronlund of Virginia; brother, Robert Mason of Colorado; brother-in-law Greg Coco of Delaware. Sisters and brothers-in-law Linda and Larry Armstrong of Cody, and Loretta and Tut Anderson of Texas; and sister-in-law Harlene White of Colorado. Nine beloved grandchildren: Brian Schiermiester, Lauren Collins, Hannah Fraley, Kade Fraley, Cuinton White, Cenzie White, Jessie, Stevie, and Cole, and numerous nieces and nephews who adored her. She also leaves behind her loyal dog Witt and beloved horse Rio. Jody was preceded in death by her parents Robert and Elizabeth Mason, one sister Marty Coco, her father-in-law Morton White, and her mother-in-law Jessie White, brothers-in-law Ben and Jim White and sister-in-law Mickie White.