Seward White

Seward White joined his wife Maphajean in the presence of the Lord on Nov. 10, 2021, the 73rd anniversary of their marriage.

Dallas Seward was born Nov. 21, 1930 in Flat Rock, Kentucky near Roundhill to Thomas G. White and Ella M. Johnson. The youngest of four, Seward helped on the family farm, tending fields and milking the cows—after dark, to show off their electricity in the barn. He enjoyed a good practical joke and singing in the hollers to find the perfect echo. He married Maphajean Hardin on Nov. 10, 1948, after playing hooky from school. The two raised five children together.

He was known for his ambition, industry and work ethic, qualities that he passed onto each of his children. As a young man he worked in a quarry, as a roofer and as a professional painter with his brother-in-law and business partner, Duval Hardin. They started to take up drywalling, which was relatively new on the construction scene, but Seward got the hang of it and turned it into a lasting career.

Seward and Mapha moved from Roundhill, KY to Louisville, then settled in Indianapolis, where Seward founded and owned White Drywall in 1956. The business is still in operation today. He built, refurbished and flipped many houses in his retirement career. Perhaps his favorite project was the home he built for he and his wife in Brown County, where they both lived from 1990 until their respective passings. The blueprints were his wife’s creation on the back of a napkin. Seward and Mapha spent most winters in Tucson, AZ, where he enjoyed the warm weather and picking lemons from the tree in his backyard. He would send them home to Indiana to share with all of his family.

Though he loved watching WWE Smackdown and Gunsmoke in his recliner, his favorite place to be was anywhere in the great outdoors. Seward was an avid hunter and fisherman, spending countless hours in the woods or out on the water in a fishing boat. He could identify any tree or bird, grow a prized tomato and fry the best fish and morels around. He was often a man of few words, but once he got started about a story involving a turkey, deer, mushroom hunting or any other wildlife, he would have his listener’s ear for a while.

Seward passed on Nov. 10, 2021 surrounded by his children in the home he built. He is survived by daughters Brenda Roberts (Gary), Beverly White, Rhonda Williams (Bruce), Reva Kreie (David) and one son, Charles Steven White (Vicki), all of Nashville; 11 grandchildren, 18 great-grandchildren and two great-great-grandchildren; brother Coleman White of Spencer, IN.

He was preceded in death by his wife; parents; one sister, Dorothy Oney; and one brother, Kenneth White; and beloved grandson Dallas White and great-granddaughter, Petra Roberts.

While the family grieves his absence, we find comfort knowing he is now with his wife and mother, whom he loved ferociously, and his savior Jesus Christ. What a day of rejoicing it will be when we see him again.

Pastor Cory Joy will conduct a Celebration of Life service at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 17th at Meredith-Clark Funeral Home Cremation & Personalization Center, 179 E. Mulberry Street in Morgantown. Friends may call from 5 p.m. until time of service Wednesday at the funeral home.

Memorial contributions in memory of Seward can be sent to Brown County Habitat for Humanity. Donations can be made to BCHFH at P.O. Box 260 Nashville, Indiana 47448.