C. Kenneth "Ken" White

C. Kenneth “Ken” White was born in Canton, Georgia on April 12, 1941, and grew up in his native Cherokee County where he graduated from Cherokee High School. After earning an associate degree from Reinhardt College in 1961 (“Reinhardt provided an affordable opportunity for me to attend college,” he once said), Ken completed his bachelor’s degree in business administration at the University of Georgia in 1963. He became a Certified Public Accountant in 1965 and worked in Atlanta for two years before moving to Dalton in 1966 where he continued working in accounting until he opened his own business, Whitecrest Carpet Mills, in 1972. He enjoyed success in the carpet industry for more than 20 years, including serving as president of the Carpet Manufacturer’s Association. Following the sale of Whitecrest in 1993, he formed White Capital Group LLC, an investment company.

Ken served for 43 years on the Board of Trustees at Reinhardt College beginning in 1983 and was a major donor to the institution. Among his many recognitions there, he was named Alumnus of the Year in 2007 and received an honorary doctorate. He was a founding director or board member for three banks in Cherokee and Cobb Counties, president of the Dalton Golf & Country Club, and a board member for the Creative Arts Guild of Dalton, Dalton Utilities, the Family Crisis Center, and Chistian Heritage School. In 2024, he was selected by the Cherokee Board of Education as Alumnus of the Year.

Ken joined the Dalton State Foundation Board of Trustees in 1998. Across nearly three decades, he served in every leadership position on the Board and on three of its five committees: Chairman (2004-2005), Vice Chairman, member of the Audit Committee, member and chairman of the Executive Committee, and member and chairman of the Investment Committee, the latter of which he currently (2026) served as a member and had done so with distinction for more than a decade.

His interest in the College is wide and varied. He would meet with the new business school dean to learn what Dalton State business programs are doing. In 2025, when the Foundation offered a new Trustee orientation to new Board members, he wanted to take the campus tour. He later said he was glad to learn about things on campus that he didn’t even know the College did.

Ken’s philanthropy at Dalton State is commensurate with his long record of service. His generous 2026 gift for the expansion of the School of Health Professions building is the second-largest gift from an individual in the College’s history. The Ken White Student Health Center on campus is named for him because he was the first to see the need – and make a significant financial investment – to have an on-campus student health clinic when the College offered its first on-campus student housing. Ken has endowed a scholarship for business students, and he provides an annual scholarship for the top performing accounting student. He has given for athletics, he avidly and consistently supports our annual Giving Day, and he has provided matching gifts to encourage others to give as well. True to his entrepreneurial spirit, he is a visionary philanthropist in both thought and deed. His latest philanthropy involved his hometown High School Cherokee County High School. His gift helped provide support for the Ken White Athletic Complex, which today holds his name. Lastly, his biggest asset was that of a Community Coach, for 15 years. His vision inspired many things you see in Dalton, GA today.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Walton and Kathryn White and brother, Lanny White.

He is survived by his wife, Myra Henderson White; sons, Kenneth Todd White, and Charles Brett White (Lesha); sister, Jean Gibson; granddaughters, Katie Beth Jolly (Rollins), Erin Grace Shelnutt (Jackson), Amelia Russell (William), and Courtney Osborne (Addison); great-grandchildren, Ryder Jolly, Asher Jolly, Hazel Shelnutt, Willa Shelnutt, and Winnie Russell.

Services to celebrate the life of Mr. White will be held at 1:00 PM on Saturday, October 31, 2026, at ChristChurch Presbyterian with Pastor Eric Geil officiating. Family will receive friends prior to the service from 11:00 A.M. to 1:00P.M. He will be entombed at West Hill Cemetery.

Memorials may be made to the Whitfield Healthcare Foundation, Peeples Cancer Institute, PO Box 2584, Dalton, GA 30722.

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