Patricia White

Patricia Anne White, age 81, died peacefully on July 25, 2024, at Avita in Wells.

Pat, as she preferred to be called (or “Gee” to her grandchildren), was born in Hartford, Connecticut, on Feb. 3, 1943. The oldest of three children, she often quipped to her siblings that she was the eldest and the smartest.

She was raised in Holden, Massachusetts, and graduated from Wachusett High School with fond memories of neighborhood get-togethers and childhood camping trips. She received her BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design in 1964, majoring in illustration. After graduating, she moved to New York City and worked at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, followed by a career in publishing, including operating several of her own companies and eventually running a successful national textbook publisher.

Pat lived in Harvard, Massachusetts, for more than 20 years with her former husband, Stephen Maka, and then later moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts, and eventually to southern Maine. Always passionate about art, she returned to creating her own artwork after retiring from the world of publishing, creating mono prints, wood cuts, and collages. Pat was an active member of the Cambridge Art Association and her work was shown in many exhibitions and open studios.

For her entire adult life, Pat said that she felt like she was 18 years old and embraced that spirit. She loved to socialize, listen to rock ‘n’ roll, and cheer on the Boston Red Sox. Some of her other passions included working in her garden in Cambridge and traveling with friends and family, often to far flung places. Some of her favorite travel destinations included Bhutan, China, India, Tanzania, and Ethiopia, just to name a few. Pat was an avid reader, often finishing a book in a day and reminiscing how when she was a child, she used to read by flashlight under the covers. With a strong belief in the importance of art and design, she dedicated countless hours to her alma mater, the Rhode Island School of Design, working with students, parents, fundraising and as a trustee and eventually a trustee emerita.

Pat is survived by her children, Anne Maka and husband Michael Dakin of London, UK, and their children Lucia and Olivia, and Michael Maka and partner Karen White of Amherst, New Hampshire, and his children Haley and Emerson, brother David White and wife Joanne White of Kennebunk, and sister Catherine Gallagher and her husband Bob Gallagher of Surprise, Arizona. Pat was predeceased by her parents Harold and Betty White of Kennebunk, and daughter-in-law Janelle Maka.

There will not be a formal service but instead an intimate gathering in the coming months to celebrate Pat’s life, remembering her sharp wit with jokes, laughter, music, and ice cream. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be made to Louis T. Graves Memorial Library, Kennebunkport.

To share a memory or leave a message of condolence please visit Pat’s Book of Memories Page at www.bibberfuneral.com.

Arrangements are in the care of Bibber Memorial Chapel, 67 Summer St., Kennebunk, ME 04043.