AusBonsai

It is with great sadness that I bring the news of the passing of John on Oct. 30th. John and Shirley White were founding members of the Canberra Bonsai Society and John was a contributor to Bonsai Down Under and Bonsai Australis magazines. He will be remembered by many here in Australia and in the U.S. His funeral takes place on Wednesday 4th November at 11 am at the Mirboo North Anglican Church.

Ash Barns

A sad day for Australian Bonsai. He was a great teacher and an inspiration to many.

Condolences to his Family. R.I.P.

Pup and Mrs Pup

Indeed those involved in bonsai in Australia mourn the passing of John White, though many of a younger generation won't have heard of him.

As Ash Burns noted, he was involved in the Canberra Bonsai Society for many years, and in bonsai affairs nationally and internationally in the 1970s and 80s.

John was also the main person who brought Roger Hnatiuk into an appreciation of the potential that a national bonsai collection would bring to Australian bonsai. John approached Roger with a proposal for such a collection to be based at the Australian National Botanic Gardens, way back in the early '90s. That didn't happen, but Roger spent much of the next 18 years urging many to work towards that goal. We now have the National Bonsai and Penjing Collection of Australia and John White was one of those who played a significant and early role in keeping the search alive.

Sincere condolences to Shirley and John's other family members.

Kunzea

Yes before my time. Although it seems his influence was far reaching. Here he is in my neck of the woods doing bonsai demonstrations at the Cowra Japanese Garden, Cherry Blossom festival.
Thank you John!

Thank you for the announcement, Ash. I remember John with great pleasure, as he gave me my fist lessons in bonsai, back in 1996, and also encouraged me to attend a workshop with John Marsh at the Japanese Gardens in Cowra, in 1997. I had a wonderful time there, and John saw to it that I did. Incidentally, John maintained the bnonsai collection at the Gardens for a number of years.
As everyone who knew him will confirm, John had an inexhaustible fund of stories, which enlivened the sessions with him. He was a walking Who's Who in bonsai, national and international, partly thanks to the time he represented Australia in the BCI.
I saw him shortly before he left for Melbourne and already then he was in quite poor health. That he managed to survive for more than 10 years after that must mean that the climate suited him and that he was happy.

LLK

Rest in Peace John

The members of Goulburn Bonsai Society extend their sympathy to Shirley and all the family.
John and Shirley attended and demonstrated at the foundation meeting of Goulburn Bonsai on the 23rd April 1988.
They both provided the inspiration for our Society to become the club it is today.

Chris
The Secretary.

I knew John and Shirley very well, back in the early days and it is with great saddness I hear of his passing. A great loss to the Bonsai world. My sympathy to the family and friends.
Thanks Ash for that posting,
Jonden

To all who knew John White.

Although we are not involved in Bonsai per se, we both remember John & Shirley at their home in Yarralumla, A.C.T. and their Bonsai collection and we marvelled at the expertise he was developing. John and I had a common interest though: I visited him often at a local Fire Station where he was a Station Officer for many years and together we participated in the (then illegal) hobby of CB radio from which we learned something about both electronics and our fellow man.

This forum is the first opportunity for us to discover what became of John after he left Canberra and we are saddened by his passing.

Terry & Maureen Wynn
Gordon
Canberra, A.C.T.

I am sorry that i never met John White as i am positive just meeting him would have broadened my knowledge of Bonsai. I hope nobody minds me saying this but heaven has Bonsai and they needed a skilled person to look after them.