Barbara Leone White, 86, of Monmouth, IL, passed away on Saturday, June 6th, 2026 at OSF Holy Family Medical Center, Monmouth, IL.
She was born on February 3rd, 1940, in Monmouth, Illinois the daughter of Lee T. White Jr. and Annabel (Rule) White. Barb was raised in rural Monmouth and attended Warren County Schools and graduated from Monmouth High School 1957.
Barb married Ralph Carnes on June 5, 1970, and they later divorced. They remained friends for many years after.
Barb spent her life dedicated to nursing. Her 65-year career in nursing started when she went to nursing school at The Illinois Masonic Hospital Association of Nursing in Chicago. In the early years of her nursing career, she worked in Chicago, New York, New Jersey, Alabama, Louisiana, Texas, and then back to Illinois. The majority of her nursing career was spent at Cottage Hospital in Galesburg, Illinois. She loved this job and grew great relationships with the staff in the dialysis unit. She worked with Dr. Srini in dialysis for 36 years. After retiring from dialysis, she quickly got bored and started working again. She kept working as an RN at Monmouth Nursing Home up until her death. It was often a surprise to people who didn’t know her well, that she was still working as an RN at 86 years old.
In her free time, Barb enjoyed doing anything that was related to her family. When her kids were younger, she rarely ever missed a sporting event. She spent many hours in bleachers and walking golf courses all over the country. As her grandchildren came along, she couldn’t get to every event, but she did her best to share in their love for sports, choir and anything else they loved. If she wasn’t spending time with her grandkids, you could find her on Cardie’s front porch admiring the quiet and the beautiful flowers. She also enjoyed fishing, catching her daily viewing of Jeopardy and she had been known to gamble on occasion lol. For people that knew Barb and knew of her love of scratchoffs and a nice casino, she was one of the luckiest people around.
Surviving Barb are her children Jeff (Julie) White of Burlington, Kentucky, Cardie Carnes of Monmouth, IL and Leanne (Chad) Hinton of Monmouth, IL.; her siblings Patricia White Myers of Council Bluffs, IA and Lee “Bud” (Carol) White of Galesburg, IL. Surviving also are her grandchildren, Laura (Richie) Gonzalez, Ben White, Chase Carnes, Claire Carnes, Courtney (fiance Brentin Erickson) Hinton, Abby (fiance Zachary Janes) Hinton and Tanner Hinton, great-grandchildren Cristiano and Alonzo Gonzalez. Numerous nieces, nephews, great nieces, great nephews, great great nieces and great great nephews.
She was preceded in death by her parents; her infant brother William White, her sister, Helen White, her ex-husband, Ralph Carnes, sister-in-law, Linda White, brother-in-law Gary Myers and nephew Joseph Myers.
Funeral Services will be at 6:00 p.m., Tuesday, June 9, 2026 at McGuire & Davies Funeral Home and Crematory, Monmouth, IL. Visitation will be prior to the service from 4:00-6:00 p.m. Cremation rites will be accorded following the services. Memorials can be made to the Barbara White Memorial Fund and can be sent to the funeral home. For more information or to leave an online condolence, please visit, www.mcguireanddaviesfuneralhome.com.
