Deceased Classmate: Salena C. (White) Officer 1967
Date Of Birth: 12-22-1945
Date Deceased: 3-6-2015
Age at Death: 69
Cause of Death: 
Classmate City: Gaithersburg
Classmate State: MD
Classmate Country: USA
Was a Veteran: No 
Survived By: Alvin D. Officer, Husband and Kelley Officer Butts, Daughter

SALENA CLAUDETTE (WHITE) OFFICER

Sunrise  December 22, 1945 - March 6, 2015  Sunset

Mrs. Salena Claudette (White) Officer passed away Friday, March 6, 2015, at her home she shared with her husband of 48 years, Alvin D. Officer, Ph.D., in Gaithersburg, Maryland. Salena was born December 22, 1945, in Pittsburg, Kansas, to the late Fletcher and Gladys (Pendarvis) White. On December 9, 1967, she married Alvin D. Officer, Ph.D., and to that union were born two children, Kelley (Officer) Butts and Alvin Aaron Officer. 

As a child, Salena attended Mt. Hebron Baptist Church in Pittsburg, KS, and later in life was baptized into the Catholic faith. She excelled in math, chemistry, biology, and Latin at Pittsburg Senior High School, graduating in 1963. In high school she also sang in the Concert Choir and participated in the school’s talent program.  

After high school she earned a Bachelor of Science - Medical Technology Degree from Kansas State College of Pittsburg (now known as  Pittsburg State University), graduating in 1968. She completed her 4th year at the University of Kansas Medical School of Medical Technology.  During her sophomore year,1964, she was selected as Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Homecoming Queen candidate and participated in the Kansas State College Homecoming Parade. After college, she worked briefly as a microbiologist at the University of Kansas Medical Center until her move to Germany with her new husband, Alvin D. Officer, a Lieutenant in the U.S. Army. After Germany, Salena and Alvin returned to Kansas. They then lived in Virginia, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and North Carolina, before settling in Maryland.

Salena was very passionate about the field of microbiology and had an extensive career.  She was employed with the Kansas University Medical Center, Kansas City, KS as a student and Microbiology Lab Technician; with the Army Hospital in Bad Kreuznauch, Germany as a Microbiology Lab Technician; with Petersburg General Hospital, Petersburg, VA as a Microbiology Lab Supervisor; with the Allegheny General Hospital, Pittsburgh, PA as a Microbiology Lab Supervisor; with the Leavenworth Kansas VA Center, Leavenworth, KS as a Microbiology Lab Technician, and with the Cape Fear Hospital, Fayetteville, NC as a Microbiology Lab Supervisor. Salena  concluded her career at Saint Mary’s Hospital, Knoxville, TX where she was a Microbiology Lab Supervisor. 

Salena was initiated into Beta Zeta Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. April 23, 1965; she was also a member of the American Society for Clinical Pathology. 

Salena was a devout member of her Catholic faith. Her interests included animal husbandry, gardening, and making a welcoming home for her husband, children, other family, and friends.  

Throughout her life, Salena was devoted to her family. During high school she babysat nieces and nephews. In college, she cared for her father until his passing from cancer. After college, her mother lived with her until her passing from diabetes-related issues.  When Salena’s mother passed, Alvin was deployed in Germany and his parents were very supportive of her and cared for her during that time; she loved then like her parents and she cared for each of them also until their passing.  As recently as April 2012, when she learned her sister Rose was gravely ill, she immediately left her home to drive to Flint, MI, to care for and comfort her sister until she passed.  

Salena leaves to cherish her memory her husband, her daughter Kelley (and husband Karlton of Manhattan Beach, CA); her sisters Dorothy White (Kansas City, MO),  Betty Jo Noland (Lakewood, CO); and Ann Louise Rose and husband Harold M. Rose, Ph.D. (Milwaukee, WI); two brothers, Fletcher White, Jr. (Kansas City, KS) and Bill White and her sister-in law, Stephanie  White (Wendell) (Kansas City, MO); a cousin, Donna (Jackson) Campbell Brice of Kansas City, MO; and  a host of nieces, nephews, and cousins.  She was preceded in death by her parents, Fletcher Sr. and Gladys White; her son, Alvin Aaron Officer; her mother- and father in-law, Mr. and Mrs. Alvin O. Officer; 2 sisters, Rose Hunter and Patricia Gaston;  3 brothers, Kenneth White, Donnie White and Wendell White; 2 nephews, Weymond  L. Powell  and Joel M. White;  2 sisters in-laws, Barbara “Bobby” White and Irma Jean White. 

A Mass of Christian Burial will be held for Salena on Thursday, March 26, 2015 at 1:00 P.M. at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church 916 N. Locust St. Pittsburg, KS with Father Rick Kotrba as Celebrant.  Burial will follow at the Mt. Olive Cemetery in Pittsburg, KS. After the committal service, the family will host a dinner in the Parish Hall. 

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that expressions of sympathy be in the form of memorials to the American Diabetes Association, American Heart Association, National Association of Mental Illness, or the Humane Society of Montgomery County, MD.  Friends may drop off or mail memorials to the Bath-Naylor Funeral Home, 522 S. Broadway, Pittsburg, KS  66762.  Condolences may be posted at www.bathnaylor.com .