On Tuesday (Jan. 23), the country music world mourned the loss of singer Lari White, who sadly lost her brief battle with cancer at the age of 52.
She was first diagnosed in September 2017 and underwent exploratory surgery the next month. The doctors then confirmed she had a very advanced and very rare form of cancer called peritoneal cancer.
Her family set up a YouCaring account where they could post updates for their extended family and friends, as well as fans about Lari’s health. On Jan. 19, it was revealed that she was placed into a hospice care facility in Nashville.
A GoFundMe page was set up by a family friend to help White’s family with the hospital expenses, where they confirmed her passing on Tuesday saying,“With a heavy heart, we share the news of the passing of Lari. She passed at home surrounded by her family, comforted with the knowledge that her family has so much support from her friends and the music community that loves her.”
A few hours after Lari’s passing, her mother, Yvonne White, took to the YouCaring site once again to write about her daughter’s last few moments, as well as to share an emotional story about Lari’s husband, Chuck.
She explained that on Monday night (Jan. 23) her family “circled around her bed, saying our goodbyes to Lari, loving her, praying, sending her messages of support and gratitude.”
Ever since Lari was a young child, she loved taking walks in the rain by herself. When she was four, she was walking in her neighborhood when a neighbor asked if her mother knew what she was doing. Lari replied, “Oh yes! My Mother allows me to take Rain Walks!“
The day before Lari’s passing, it rained.
She said to God, “Today Lari might take her ‘Rain Walk'” and not even 24 hours later, “at 4:44 this morning, Lari peacefully took her ‘Rain Walk’,”Yvonne wrote.
Yvonne also wrote about a note she received from Chuck, Lari’s husband of almost 20 years.
“On Sunday, Chuck sent each of us in Lari’s family some of his beautiful words of comfort, and I treasure these he wrote to me: ‘I thought of you letting your first-born go, and knowing there is no such thing as ‘Letting Go’…Just some words we say to describe something hearts don’t do’… Thank you for this, Chuck, but thank you more for “being there” for her and, for cherishing her and holding her, and for you and Lari teaching 3 special children the strength and love to ‘be there’ with you…for her.”
While Chuck was losing the love of his life and the mother of his children, he knew for Yvonne and Lari’s dad, losing their child was never something they could have imagined would happen in their lifetime.
We will continue to pray for Lari White’s family and friends during this difficult time. Watch Lari’s beautiful rendition of “Amazing Grace” below.
