Rev. Lanneau L. White, Who Built Thriving Church, Dies

The Rev. Lanneau L. White, who took over 147 worshipers meeting in a former synagogue in mid-Los Angeles and turned the embryonic congregation into a thriving United Methodist Church of 2,700 members, died Saturday at an Inglewood hospital at the age of 78.

White came to the Southern California Conference of the United Methodist Church in 1947 to become minister of the young Holman church at Cimarron Street and Jefferson Boulevard. When he left 27 years later he called the period the most productive of his life. In that time, the church moved into a multimillion-dollar building on West Adams Boulevard and established assistance programs for the needy and a free dental clinic.

Earlier, White had been a pastor in Washington and at three churches in Virginia.

Educated at Howard University, Columbia University and USC, White also served as a superintendent of the Pasadena and Los Angeles Methodist districts and president of the Los Angeles Council of Churches. He is survived by his wife, Bernice, 4 children, 12 grandchildren and 3 great-grandchildren.

A funeral service will be held at Holman United Methodist Church today at 1 p.m.