Robert White - Nyack 1947
Robert Nathaniel “Bob” White was one of Rockland County’s finest combination sprinter-jumpers in the post-World War II era. Bob won four Rockland County championships in the 220-yard dash and long jump and five Section 9 titles in the 220, long jump and 440-yard relay. His long-jump best of 22 feet, 9 inches stood as the County record for 20 years (1947-67) and is still among the top 10 performances in Rockland history in that event.
“You couldn’t find a better person for your team,” says Jake McNulty of Nanuet, a 1945 Nyack graduate and a teammate of Bob’s. “He was a good runner and long jumper, and a nice guy. Whoever we had running, he would root you on. He was a good student, too.”
Bob first set a Rockland best in 1945 when he spanned 20-10.5, and proceeded to better his own mark six times over the next two years, finishing with the 22-9 in a dual meet against Suffern at the end of the 1947 season. In a one-month period from May 13 to June 12, 1947, he stretched out past the 22-foot mark no less than five times, setting a meet record at the Newburgh Invitational, 22-3.25; a County record at the Section 9 Class A meet, 22-3.5; and winning dual meets against Pearl River, 22-0.5, and a pair against Suffern, 22-5.5 and 22-9.
Bob established County and Section 9 records in the 220, 22.4 and 22.3, respectively, and a Section 9 mark in the long jump, 22-3.5. He held the County record in the 220 for 16 years, until Don Clancy, a fellow Hall of Famer from Nyack, lowered the mark to 22.2 in 1963. Bob also ran a leg on Nyack’s 440-yard relay that set a County and Section record at the Section 9 Class A meet in his senior year.
Bob attended Howard University in Washington, D.C., to study medicine, but did not finish
his schooling, according to a niece, Valerie Parker. He was a sensitive, introspective man who delved into the works of many authors, such as the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzche.
Bob’s family was well known in Nyack. His mother, Lilly White, owned a popular restaurant on Franklin Street in the village. Bob, or Rob as he was known to his family, moved to North Carolina many years ago. He was residing at the Brian Center Health and Rehabilitation facility in Asheboro, N.C., when he died of throat cancer in September 1998 at age 69. Bob had two sons, Robert and Michael; a brother, Noah; a sister, Josephine Spinks; and two grandchildren.
“You couldn’t find a better person for your team,” says Jake McNulty of Nanuet, a 1945 Nyack graduate and a teammate of Bob’s. “He was a good runner and long jumper, and a nice guy. Whoever we had running, he would root you on. He was a good student, too.”
Bob first set a Rockland best in 1945 when he spanned 20-10.5, and proceeded to better his own mark six times over the next two years, finishing with the 22-9 in a dual meet against Suffern at the end of the 1947 season. In a one-month period from May 13 to June 12, 1947, he stretched out past the 22-foot mark no less than five times, setting a meet record at the Newburgh Invitational, 22-3.25; a County record at the Section 9 Class A meet, 22-3.5; and winning dual meets against Pearl River, 22-0.5, and a pair against Suffern, 22-5.5 and 22-9.
Bob established County and Section 9 records in the 220, 22.4 and 22.3, respectively, and a Section 9 mark in the long jump, 22-3.5. He held the County record in the 220 for 16 years, until Don Clancy, a fellow Hall of Famer from Nyack, lowered the mark to 22.2 in 1963. Bob also ran a leg on Nyack’s 440-yard relay that set a County and Section record at the Section 9 Class A meet in his senior year.
Bob attended Howard University in Washington, D.C., to study medicine, but did not finish
his schooling, according to a niece, Valerie Parker. He was a sensitive, introspective man who delved into the works of many authors, such as the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzche.
Bob’s family was well known in Nyack. His mother, Lilly White, owned a popular restaurant on Franklin Street in the village. Bob, or Rob as he was known to his family, moved to North Carolina many years ago. He was residing at the Brian Center Health and Rehabilitation facility in Asheboro, N.C., when he died of throat cancer in September 1998 at age 69. Bob had two sons, Robert and Michael; a brother, Noah; a sister, Josephine Spinks; and two grandchildren.