Dodie White doesn’t like to sit idle.
While attending Plant City High School, White fell in love with theater and business classes. She had the opportunity to gain real-world experience in the business world as a student. She was assigned to Coronet Mine, where she was hired as a floater and spent one week in different departments.
“I knew more about the company in six months than people who had been there six years,” White said.
After high school, White joined Plant City’s Business and Professional Women’s Club. In the late 1970s, she earned the club’s Young Careerist of the Year award.
“Titles are just titles,” White said. “I think it’s all about your heart and the attitude you take with you.”
Today, White works as a controller for the Tampa-based Cone & Graham Inc., a position she has held for about five years.
“That entails all facets of the accounting department, including receivables, payables and spreadsheets,” White said.
She’s been in that line of work since the 1990s, when she graduated with her business management degree from St. Leo College.
“I graduated when I was in my 40s,” White said. “I graduated summa cum laude while working full time, 50 to 60 hours per week. I paid my way, and I took a full load until I finished. It was important to me. When something’s important to you, you make it happen.”
White attributes much of her success at that time and since then to the Bruton Memorial Library. Every year, she serves as one of the main organizers of the Friends of the Bruton Memorial Library’s Mystery Dinner Theater.
“I went to the St. Leo campus at the MacDill Air Force Base for class,” White said. “I worked in Tampa off of 50th Street. I would also work Saturdays and some Sundays. I would call Bruton Memorial Library and ask for resources, and I would pick up the resources on Saturdays. It’s important to me for kids coming up that our library’s there. They help you accomplish what your goal is.”
Stages and Service
White took theater classes in high school. Her love of performing and community theater stemmed from her drama teacher, Goldie McVay.
“She was just wonderful,” White said. “She instilled that self-confidence and discipline. She taught us that ‘you can do it if you want to do it’ attitude. I wanted to be on stage … but I hate attention on me. But when I’m on stage
I’m not myself, so I’m pretty good with that.”
White took her love of the stage outside of the walls of Plant City High School. She has served on the Plant City Entertainment board since 1988 and was elected president of the organization for 2016.
“I’ve seen kids come and go, I’ve seen adults come and go,” White said. “We have one of the strongest community theaters in the state of Florida. The maturity and discipline in the shows … it’s a family atmosphere. There’s a place for everyone in theater, as far as I’m concerned.”
White’s service extends beyond the stage. In addition to her work with PCE and the Mystery Dinner Theater, she serves on the Christmas Parade Board, the Plant City Photo Archives and History Center Advisory Board and co-chairs the Florida Strawberry Festival Queen’s Exhibit with her sister, Marsha Passmore. She’s also the festival’s Ambassadors Day co-chair and was elected as the vice president of the Friends of the Bruton Memorial Library Board in September.
“I know it’s considered service work, but I don’t think of it as service work,” White said. “I feel like that’s what we’re supposed to do anyway. I don’t want to just have my name on the role. I enjoy it because I feel like we’re supposed to make a difference in the community.”
Contact Emily Topper at etopper@plantcityobserver.com.