Kathleen Hartnett White died on the evening of August 6 at New Haven Memory Care in Bastrop following a rapid and tragic onset of dementia. Her loving husband, Beau, was at her side as she slipped away to Heaven.
Kathleen was born Kathleen Mary Hartnett on October 19, 1949, in Salina, Kansas, to Andrew Stone Hartnett and Mary Clare Geis Hartnett. Her father was a lawyer, and her mother was a homemaker and community leader. Kathleen attended Sacred Heart Catholic Elementary School before graduating from Salina High School in 1967 as class valedictorian. As a young lady, Kathleen was a cheerleader and learned excellent equestrian skills alongside the family’s love of five-gaited American Saddlebred competition. She also excelled in theatre and debate.
Kathleen attended Stanford University, earning a B.A. in humanities and religion, cum laude. She then earned an M.A. from Stanford under the Lyman Scholarship Award for Outstanding Woman in Humanities, becoming fluent in Mandarin Chinese. She was accepted into Princeton’s Ph.D. program in East Asian studies, winning the Jonathan Edwards Award for academic excellence. In the late 1970s, she was part of a select team of Western scholars invited to China to view, study and record the early excavation of the third century B.C. terra cotta warrior statues in Xian.
After returning to the United States, Kathleen worked for Nancy Reagan at the White House in the first Reagan administration. She then went to work for the National Cattlemen’s Association as director of private lands and environment. Kathleen was appointed in 2000 to the Texas Water Development Board by then-Governor George W. Bush where she oversaw the development and financing of large water supply, treatment and transportation projects implementing the renowned Texas Water Plan.
In 2001, Governor Rick Perry appointed Kathleen as chairman of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. For six years she served as the top official of a state agency of over 3,000 employees and 16 regional offices managing the air quality, water quality, waste management, recycling, and water supply for Texas. Additionally, she oversaw five interstate river compacts. As part of her duties as chairman, she implemented the Texas Emission Reduction Program to retrofit and replace diesel engines and equipment, obtained agreement on water due to Texas from Mexico, obtained federal concurrence on Texas water quality rules for endangered species, developed a safe state licensing program for low-level radioactive nuclear waste, developed a new Clean Water Act program to ensure public safety without regulating private property, and many other initiatives to protect human health and the environment with common-sense solutions.
Kathleen was appointed to the board of directors of the Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA) by Governor Perry in 2008. She helped oversee complex water projects as well as one of the state’s largest publicly-owned electric utilities, providing generation, transmission, and distribution systems encompassing 3,670 megawatts of power, 5,200 miles of transmission lines, six dams, and 11,000 acres of parkland.
In 2008, Kathleen joined the Texas Public Policy Foundation as the distinguished senior fellow-in-residence and director of the Armstrong Center for Energy and the Environment. As a noted environmental scholar, she directed the center’s research on air quality, climate policy, energy, water supply, water rights, water quality, environmental flows, waste management and disposal, endangered species and wildlife. She also provided opinion leaders, policy makers, media and the general public with rigorous analysis of policy alternatives through published research, testimony to the Texas Legislature and the U.S. Congress, editorials, public speaking and educational forums.
Kathleen had a scholar’s rare ability to translate complex policy issues into plain English for public consumption, and her writings were widely published in The Hill, National Review, Investors Business Daily, Roll Call, Forbes, and national and regional newspapers. She was a commentator for Fox Business News, CNN and nationally syndicated radio programs. In 2016, she published the book Fueling Freedom: Exposing the Mad War on Energy which defended the proper role of fossil fuels in U.S. history and economic expansion.
Kathleen served on many other governmental boards in her career including the Texas Emission Reduction Advisory Committee, 2008-2017; the Texas Water Foundation, 2008-2014; the Texas Environmental Flows Advisory Committee, 2006-2007; the Texas Coastal Coordination Council, 2005-2007; the Western States Water Council, 2002-2007; the Dividing the Waters Committee, 2004-2006; the Texas Environmental Flows Commission, 2003-2005; the Texas Wildlife Association, 1996-1999; and the Texas Strategic Economic Development Planning Commission, 1997-1998.
Kathleen married Beau Brite White on August 13, 1993, in Midland. In their 31 years of marriage they shared many wonderful adventures. They originally lived on the Brite Ranch, a 130-year-old Hereford family ranching operation located in Presidio County in Far West Texas. Later they moved to Bastrop County to be near Austin for Kathleen’s growing career in politics and policy. Throughout their marriage, they raised world class Jack Russell terriers, attending many shows and hunts around the U.S. and also in the U.K. They won many regional and national awards including the national Jack Russell championship six times. Their breeding operation, High Range, sent quality puppies to many adoring owners, including numerous celebrities, and produced more than 1,200 show ribbons for their dogs. Kathleen and Beau were longtime members of the Jack Russell Terrier Club of America and the regional Gulf Coast Jack Russell Terrier Network.
Somehow always finding time to be social, Kathleen was a superlative cook and loved to host and entertain people. Everyone was made to feel welcome and special at the table with her and Beau.
Kathleen is preceded in death by her siblings, Andrew Stone Hartnett II, Mary Helen Hartnett Bicknese and Lawrence Benn Hartnett. She is survived by eight nieces and nephews. She is also survived by many dear friends and former colleagues.
From the time she was a child, Kathleen’s Christian faith was important to her. She was a devout Catholic and always sought a church home wherever she lived. After moving to Bastrop County, Kathleen and Beau primarily attended St. Mary’s Catholic Church in String Prairie. However, to best accommodate all who wish to pay respects to Kathleen, a funeral Mass will be held at Ascension Catholic Church at 804 Pine Street in Bastrop, Texas, on Friday, August 23, 2024, at 1:30 p.m. with reception to follow in the parish hall. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorials to the Jack Russell Terrier Society of America (P.O. Box 4527 in Lutherville, MD 21094) or to a Catholic church or charity of your choice.