Miriam Kast White

Miriam Kast White died Monday, June 17th, 2024 in her home in Kansas City, Missouri surrounded by her family.

Miriam Eva Kast was born to Wilhelm Kast and Sigrun (Kuefner) Kast on May 29th, 1961 in Columbus, Georgia. She was second-born of nine children. She was raised chiefly in the Birmingham and Bloomfield Hills communities of suburban Detroit, Michigan.

Miriam was a graduate of Our Lady of Mercy High School in 1979. She received the Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance from Oberlin College in 1983, and the Master of Music in Piano Performance from the University of Michigan in 1986.

Miriam married Scott White in 1992, and they resided in Atlanta, Georgia. Born there are children Elliot Michael Kast White, Teresa Ilene White, and Anthony James White.

The family also resided in Escanaba, Michigan; Ada, Oklahoma; and Kansas City, Missouri.

An accomplished classical musician with an extraordinary ability in congregational and choral sacred music, as Pianist and Organist Miriam provided lengthy tenures at Pleasant Hill Presbyterian Church in Duluth, Georgia; First Presbyterian Church of Escanaba, Michigan; First Presbyterian Church of Ada, Oklahoma; and St. Luke’s Episcopal Church of Ada, Oklahoma. She served as adjunct faculty member in the music department of East Central University in Ada, Oklahoma, and as accompanist of the Oglethorpe University Choir in Atlanta.

Miriam was a family person, a sensitive and thoughtful person, an extraordinary friend, fair, a person of integrity, and above all of love. She enjoyed knitting, conversation, and family; the humble and small creatures of the world; yoga, good books, the higher-quality thoughtfulness of the world, connection with people, and healthy living. She made rich contributions in all these areas. She was a Deacon in the Presbyterian Church (USA).

Miriam was stricken with a serious cancer in late 2022. She worked hard to regain her health. Yet the cancer took her life. She loved and was loved, to the end.

Miriam was preceded in death by her father Wilhelm Christoph Fritz Kast, and by her older brother Jonathan Benjamin Kast.

Miriam is survived by her husband Scott Michael White, children Elliot Michael Kast White, Teresa Ilene White, and Anthony James White; her mother Sigrun Kuefner of Missoula, Montana; by her siblings Katherina (Scott Badenoch) Kast, Andrea Acomb, Dorothea Kast, Jennifer (David Lockwood) Kast, Benjamin Kast, Maximilian (Krystal) Kast, and Alexander (Cheryl-Anne) Kast; and by numerous nieces and nephews.

Services for Miriam Kast White will take place in Missoula, Montana, including a family service at First Presbyterian Church. In lieu of flowers the family requests donations in memory of Miriam Kast White to the Memorial Funds of any of the above-mentioned congregations.