White Brothers Celebrate Long Lives, Business Success
The White twins taught their children a novel way of running a business. Work hard and love your families, Hank and Ed White said to their sons and grandchildren who now run the White Block Company.
The men, who turned 80 on Monday, are celebrating the 50th anniversary of the concrete block manufacturing plant they founded at 6219 E. Trent.
Gone are the 14-hour work days and the tireless nights trucking blocks to Pinehurst, Idaho. Gone are the worries over the bookkeeping, the staff and the business.
“When we retired, we left with no suggestions,” says Ed. “They just kept doing like we did and kept the ball rolling. We told them it’d be something good for their kids and grandkids.”
It keeps the family close, says Hank.
Inseparable, the brothers always wanted to go into business together. While serving side by side as infantry soldiers in World War II, the two began thinking of ways to start a business. They decided on the block company, where in 1947 they began churning out 500 blocks a day with a hand-operated machine.
“We couldn’t get ahead,” says Ed. “People’d buy them as soon as we made them.”
Hank sold the North Side home in which he and his wife, Abbie, lived to pour money into the growing business. They worked 14-hour days to get work done, orders filled. No matter how tough times were, their employees, who happened also to be their sons, took home the same pay as the company’s owners.
Some things haven’t changed.
Now, the multi-million dollar business puts out 9,000 blocks a day. Those blocks are shipped throughout western Montana, North Idaho and Eastern Washington.
White Block has remained in the hands of family members. The Whites’ sons - Wayne, Lyle, Ben and Mike - are at the helm today, preparing a third generation to one day take over.
“There’s a lot of pride in that,” says grandson Bruce Corigliano, who develops bids for White Block. Keeping the company in the family means much to Corigliano, whose father, Ben, is one of the company’s executive vice presidents. “That’s the neat part about it.”
The long days haven’t ceased and neither has the work ethic the White brothers instilled in their children. Bruce Corigliano knows all too well what the 14-hour workday is like.
“We’re not overstaffed. Let’s say everyone is efficient,” he says.
Hank, who lives on the plant property in a stucco house built with White blocks, says he and his brother keep their noses out of the daily operations and simply enjoy the benefits of retirement.
The brothers, not quick to give up work altogether, continue to labor. Though now, it’s a labor of love.
Ed prunes his fruit trees. They fish and visit with family members often. They help out with chores or fix-it jobs at their grandchildren’s homes.
The brothers reminisce about the fun that comes with being a twin - how their teachers mistook them for each other, how friends never knew who was who.
“There’s something deeper than just brothers,” says Ed.
Finishing Ed’s sentence, Hank says, “He knows what I’m thinking and I know what he’s thinking.”
Ed points to the innumerable fights the two had while growing up. “We couldn’t stay mad at each other,” he says. “I don’t think anything could come between us.”
After retiring, they dedicated their lives to their grandchildren, said Bruce Corigliano. The Whites made sure all of their five children and 12 grandchildren had enough money to buy a home and “get a good start in life,” Hank says.
Far more valuable than money, though, is the example the two men set for their offspring.
“They’re our example, our mentor,” says Bruce. “We see how they handled their life and we see how to make great choices. They work as hard now as they did back then.”
, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo