Willye B. White, a five-time Olympian, died of pancreatic cancer Feb. 6 at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. She was 67.
Willye White was born Dec. 31, 1939, in Money, Miss., and raised by her grandparents. At 16 she competed in the 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games and became the first U.S. woman to win a long-jump medal, earning a silver behind Elizabeth Krzeszinska of Poland.
She would compete on four additional Olympic track-and-field teams, and won another silver medal in the 400-meter relay in the 1964 Olympic Games at Tokyo.
White moved to Chicago in 1960 and lived here 46 years, working as a nurse and then as a public health administrator, all the while mentoring hundreds of young women from the city’s housing projects through the Willye White Foundation.
White was married in 1961 and divorced in 1964. Survivors include a brother and a sister; she had no children.
A celebration of her life was held Feb. 10 at the South Side Cultural Center, 7059 S. Shore Drive.
In lieu of flowers, the family is requesting donations be sent to the Willye White Foundation, 55 E. Superior, Chicago, IL, 60611). The foundation will then make a donation in her name to PANCAN (the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network).