Hilda White, born December 12, 1930, passed away peacefully at home, surrounded by her family, on October 14, 2022 at the age of 91.

Hilda was born in a small village in Honduras where she spent her youngest days growing under the love and kindness of her father, mother, brothers and sisters. She was the youngest of nine. In those quiet beginnings she developed the deep sense of family and community that would define her character, qualities that endeared her to so many over the course of her life.

She left Honduras when she was 19 years old, immigrating first to Texas where she worked as a waitress. She often recollected that the menu’s grasp of the English language was greater than her own at the time. She recalled this fact frequently and with great pride in her later years when she became well known for her remarkable inability to lose at the game of Scrabble.

As a young woman Hilda’s path led her to a career as a bookkeeper in San Francisco, a city whose personality was as large and as vivacious as her own. In the lively streets of the downtown scene, she made timelessly entertaining memories and met some of her dearest lifelong friends. It was here that she met the love of her life, Al White, a Merchant Mariner in town on shore leave. Al and Hilda were wed in Reno after a six-week courtship, a whirlwind story that they told with increasing fondness and frequency throughout their 49 years of marriage.

In the avenues of San Francisco, they bought their first house and had their daughter, Sandy. They moved to Fremont in 1965, to raise their daughter close to family and made many friends there. Hilda’s kitchen was the site of many extended family dinners as she was an amazing cook. She always had a meal available for everyone and her home was the breakfast spot for neighborhood kids before school. Tortillas and chorizo was usually the breakfast of choice. Al later built a family home along the water in Clear Lake where they moved when he retired. It again became a frequent gathering place for family and neighborhood friends. In the decades thereafter, their grandchildren, nieces, and nephews would visit this home in the summers. Al and Hilda eventually followed their daughter and grandchildren to Eureka in 1995, where they would spend the remainder of their lives watching their grandchildren grow and immersing themselves in the community that they came to call home. Hilda and Al were an open book with one another, embodying a love that was deep and complimentary.

Hilda’s greatest joys in life were her family, her friends, and her church. Above all else she valued the bonds of family and she never let those connections fade with time or distance. She carried such immense pride for her grandchildren that she could not help but regale everyone she knew with stories of their accomplishments. She remembered everyone as the best versions of themselves and she believed this unwaveringly. Hilda never stopped making friends and she never stopped finding new ways to bring comfort to others’ lives. Whether through her deeply personal wisdom or her comical mannerisms and phrases, her feelings of warmth were infectious to all in her company. Hilda also held a fundamental closeness with her faith, and she guided her life by the teachings of Christ. Her Church was her community, one in which she found great solace and fellowship.

Hilda lived for the moments that she could share with other people, whether they were in celebration or in sorrow. She made the brightest moments in life shine brighter because she shared that happiness with you. She also made the heaviest moments in life feel lighter because she shouldered those burdens with you. Her heart knew only love and kindness, and she saw it everywhere she went and in everyone she met. Hilda had an unrivaled ability to make people feel special. Those who knew her were made to believe that there was a space in her heart only for them. If you are one of those people, then you know that this space was real. If there was one woman in this world with a heart large enough to hold the love of everyone she met, it was Hilda White.

Hilda’s life was long and wonderful and filled with love. She spent her final years under the care of her loving and devoted daughter, Sandy, whose support allowed her the time and the dignity to know a comfort that she truly deserved. Sandy’s husband Michael, whom Hilda loved like a son, was a great source of stability and happiness for Hilda, especially during the final years of her life. When her independence waned, she was furthered cared for by a small group of devoted caregivers, Lisa, Cindy, Patrice and Rosanna, all of whom she considered the closest of friends.

For many years Hilda dearly missed the friends and family who had gone before her, especially her beloved Al. Our sadness at her loss is comforted by the knowledge that she is with them now. May she find the peace in rest that she brought so many of us in life.

Hilda is survived by her only daughter, Sandy Bakke (Mike), and grandchildren Brian Bakke (Kristen) and Lauren Bakke Kalfsbeek (Tim). She also leaves behind a large extended family, nieces and nephews and many friends. She loved you all!

A celebration of life will be held for Hilda on Saturday, October 22, at 10:30 am at the Eureka First United Methodist church located at 520 Del Norte Street.

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The obituary above was submitted on behalf of Hilda White’s loved ones. The Lost Coast Outpost runs obituaries of Humboldt County residents at no charge. See guidelines here. Email news@lostcoastoutpost.com.