Mary Jo White ( Ransford; December 27, 1941 – February 21, 2025) was an American politician who served as a Republican member of the

Pennsylvania State Senate The Pennsylvania State Senate is the upper house of the Pennsylvania General Assembly, the Pennsylvania state legislature. The State Senate meets in the State Capitol building in Harrisburg. Senators are elected for four-year terms, stagger ...

for the 21st District from 1997 to 2013.

Background

White was born in

Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, on December 27, 1941, one of five children born to Joseph and Patricia Ransford. She graduated from Aquinas High School in 1959 and received a B.A. degree from

Quincy University Quincy University (QU) is a Private college, private Franciscans, Franciscan college in Quincy, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1860, it has an enrollment of approximately 1,300 undergraduate and graduate students across five constituent sch ...

in 1963 and a J.D. from the

University of Pittsburgh School of Law The University of Pittsburgh School of Law (Pitt Law) is the law school of the University of Pittsburgh, a public research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1895 and became a charter member of the Association of American ...

in 1967.

Career

White served as a

public defender A public defender is a lawyer appointed to represent people who otherwise cannot reasonably afford to hire a lawyer to defend themselves in a trial. Several countries provide people with public defenders, including the UK, Belgium, Hungary and Si ...

for

Venango County, Pennsylvania Venango County is a County (United States), county in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 50,454. Its county seat is Franklin, Pennsylvania, Franklin ...

from 1974 to 1976. From 1977 to 2007 she was the Corporate Secretary and Vice-President for Environmental/Government Affairs for Quaker State Oil Corp. She was elected to the Pennsylvania Senate for the 21st district and served from 1997 to 2013. She chaired the Senate Environmental Committee for 12 years and was the first woman elected to the Republican Leadership in 2011. She was considered an expert on issues involving the environment and

land use Land use is an umbrella term to describe what happens on a parcel of land. It concerns the benefits derived from using the land, and also the land management actions that humans carry out there. The following categories are used for land use: fo ...

." She worked as Trustee Emerita for the Board of Trustees for the University of Pittsburgh and as a member of the Pitt Public Health Board of Visitors from 2007 to 2020.

Death

White died on February 21, 2025, at the age of 83. She was survived by her husband, H. William White Jr., a Venango County judge, and their three children.Former 21st District State Representative Mary Jo White Passes Away at Age 83
explorevenango.com. Accessed March 29, 2025.

References

External links

Pennsylvania State Senate - Mary Jo White
''official PA Senate website''
Senator White
''official caucus website'' 1941 births 2025 deaths 20th-century members of the Pennsylvania General Assembly 21st-century members of the Pennsylvania General Assembly Pennsylvania lawyers Republican Party Pennsylvania state senators People from Franklin, Pennsylvania Politicians from Venango County, Pennsylvania Politicians from Chicago Quincy University alumni University of Pittsburgh School of Law alumni Women state legislators in Pennsylvania 21st-century American women politicians 20th-century American women politicians Public defenders {{Pennsylvania-PASenate-stub