Owen White, a Fellow of The Royal Philatelic Society of Canada (RPSC), died on June 23 at the age of 92.
A stamp collector since the age of six, White eventually moved from Australia to Canada in 1958 to study at the University of Toronto, where he met iconic philatelist Harry Sutherland at the China Stamp Society. He was later introduced to other prominent philatelists, including Richard Maresch, of Maresch Auctions.
White was a member of the American China Stamp Society as well as Philatelic Specialists Society of Canada; British North America Philatelic Society; North Toronto Stamp Club; the Toronto chapter of the Hong Kong Study Circle; and a 50-year member of the Royal Philatelic Society of Victoria in Australia. White also previously served as president of the Toronto Stamp Collectors’ Club.
“Even as his health declined, he continued to attend stamp club meetings until January of this year with help from his wife,” reads an obituary published in the September/October issue of The Canadian Philatelist, the official publication of The RPSC.
Another obituary, this published by the Canadian Geotechnical Society, of which he was deeply involved throughout his career in geology and civil engineering, reads: “Owen was a taciturn man with bushy eyebrows and a quiet Australian voice. During his career and in retirement he accomplished a great deal, and had a profound effect on engineering geology in Canada and abroad. He will be missed.”