Dian D. White

Dian Doering Ersig White passed away at home on July 24, 2026. She was born in Toledo, Ohio on November 19, 1940, the daughter of Marie Jean Doering Ersig and Dr. Harold Ersig of Maumee, Ohio. She spent her 85 years caring for the land and caring for other people.

Dian grew up and went to school in the Toledo area, excelling in academics, particularly reading and writing. Many of her summers were spent living with family friends on a blueberry farm north of Bangor, which sparked Dian's lifelong love of Maine. A horse-riding accident when she was a teenager resulted in a long recovery that caused her to miss much of her senior year of high school, but she graduated successfully and attended Wittenberg University, where she received a Bachelors of Science in Teaching in 1962.

For three summers during high school and college, Dian worked at the Kiddie Land Amusement Park, where she sold tickets and concessions. There she met Robert M. White, who drove the train, and the two began dating. Despite her parents' disapproval-Dr. Harold was a respected dentist who raised purebred bird dogs; Bob was a bit of a James Dean type hoodlum-the two married in 1963. Their honeymoon was a bicycling and camping trip up the shore of Lake Michigan.

The young couple started their life together serving as the caretakers at the Perrysburg Boat Club on the Maumee River near Lake Erie. They had two children, Corey and Craig, during that time, but their dream was to move to Maine to raise their family. They achieved this in 1973, when they bought an old farmhouse and 40 acres of forest in Litchfield. Dian's third child, Christy, arrived not long after their arrival in Maine.

Dian had begun her teaching career in the Ohio public schools. After moving to Maine, she joined the faculty of Richmond High School, where she taught English for nearly thirty years, long enough to see many former students come in to have parent-teacher conferences for their own children. After a brief and not entirely successful time serving as the cheerleading coach, she settled into her role as the yearbook advisor, helping students produce dozens of editions of the Richmond High School Garnet. She always enjoyed being greeted by former students, which happened frequently; even in her final illness, two of the members of her care team were her students, one of whom told her, "You were the person who taught me to love words."

In addition to family and her career in education, Dian's life was characterized by service to her community and taking care of the land.

In the summer of 1976, Bob and Dian and their three children could be seen on the back roads of Litchfield, picking up trash from along the side of the road, with handmade signs saying "Vote YES on the Bottle Bill"; they were part of a grassroots effort that successfully passed one of the first recycling laws in the United States. The family lived close to the land, growing much of their own food in the garden, raising chickens and pigs and rabbits, cutting firewood in the forest, picking raspberries and canning applesauce from the apple trees around the house. Family outings were usually a trip to the beach, a hike up a mountain, or canoeing on the Tacoma Lakes. Even into her eighties, Dian spent her summers splitting and stacking the three cords of wood that would keep her warm all winter.

After Bob died in 2002, Dian and her family began to transform her property into a conservation area, building trails so that hikers can walk in the forest and along the stream, and improving the canoe launch so that visitors can paddle to Jimmy Pond. One of her most satisfying lifetime accomplishments was permanently protecting her woods and wetlands as the Jimmy Stream Conservation Area, under a conservation easement with the Kennebec Land Trust.

Dian served for several years on the Town of Litchfield Conservation Commission. She was the Jimmy Pond Representative for the Tacoma Lakes Association, and was a frequent member of the Plant Patrol, volunteers who survey the lakes for signs of invasive plants. Even when her own vision declined so that she was no longer able to do plant identification, she would paddle in the stern of the canoe so the volunteer in the bow could scan for invasive plants. She was also a member of Lake Stewards of Maine and the Maine Woodland Owners Association.

Dian also lived her life in service to other people. She was an active volunteer with the Litchfield Food Banks for seventeen years, specializing in the refrigerated and frozen foods. In the early years, she worked alongside another retired Richmond teacher, laughing and reminiscing about students as they worked. When the Food Bank began the process of moving into its current iteration in 2019, Dian volunteered to be Co-Director, alongside her dear friend Rayna Leibowitz. She kept the frozen foods area organized, taking out food on Monday or Tuesday to thaw in Styrofoam containers so it could be packaged for distribution on Wednesday and Thursday. Although the number of families served varies from week to week, Dian always seemed to have prepared the right amount.

She was a member of Plains Baptist Church for more than fifty years. She was known for her singing-even after her vision declined, she knew many of the hymns by heart-and for her quiet service, particularly for disappearing into the kitchen after church suppers to take care of washing the dishes.

Dian was a member of the Historical Society of Litchfield, guiding visitors through the history museum on Saturdays. Her experience cooking with a wood stove proved invaluable for the volunteers at the Farm and Home Museum at the Litchfield Fair every year, as they spent 12 hours a day for three days demonstrating, preparing, and sharing old-time, homemade applesauce and four types of baked beans. Dian also served her community as an election clerk, joining neighbors from different political parties to count ballots with great camaraderie late into the night.

Dian was a member of the Senior Advisory Committee, a regular volunteer for the Thrift Store, and she led exercise classes at the Senior Center on Mondays and Fridays. When her friend Esther Slattery died, Dian asked the Select Board to appoint her to Esther's vacant seat on the Litchfield Academy Board of Trustees. At age 85 she completed the nomination paperwork to run for public office and successfully ran for re-election at the June primary, just six weeks before her death.

Dian White's life was characterized by the belief that a life well lived is one where we take care of the land and take care of each other. Her final wishes were that people would come and walk the trails of the conservation area, and step into the many volunteer and service roles she leaves vacant. Dian is survived by her three children, Corey White, Craig White (Sasha Vrtunski), and Christy White, and two grandchildren, Alexander White and Cooper White. She was predeceased by her parents, her husband Robert M. White, and her brother Dean Ersig.

The family requests that donations in her memory may be sent to the Litchfield Food Bank (PO Box 306, Litchfield ME 04350) or the Tacoma Lakes Association (PO Box 293, Litchfield ME 04350 or tacomalakes.org).

A Celebration of Life ceremony for Dian White will be held on Saturday, August 1, 2026 at 11am at Plains Baptist Church, 56 Plains Road, in Litchfield, Maine, with a luncheon to follow.