Celebrating the Life of Josh White Jr

Josh White Jr by Jerry Lemenu

The lights are on the stage and Josh White Jr. sits down on his stool. He is home. Josh tunes his guitar as he surveys the audience. There, a couple tables back Eleanor Josaitis sits on the edge of her seat. He grins his electric grin and laughs his big signature laugh. He knows what she wants. “Grandma’s Hands.”  Grandma’s hands soothed. He loved Eleanor Josaitis and Focus: HOPE.

Josh Jr. believed in the Maxim, “If not us, who? If not now, when?”

His journey to Focus: HOPE was destiny.

Josh Jr. was born to show business and activism. His father Josh White Sr. is a blues legend and three-and-a-half-year-old Jr. was on stage singing by his daddy’s knee…singing about longing… singing a story about a little man who needed bread with his “One Meat Ball.”  Josh, Jr. and his dad sang together for Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt. Deeply moved, Eleanor Roosevelt became Josh Jr.’s godmother.

Josh Jr. was a child star who acted on Broadway. He won a TONY award and was a Grammy nominated recording artist. He knew and was influenced by Lead Belly, Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Odetta and mostly his dad.  He performed with Josh Sr. for seventeen years before launching out on his own.

In 1969 Josh Jr. and Focus: HOPE found each other. He never went away. He was the anchor of the Focus: HOPE Holiday Music Festival since its beginning in 1970. If Fr. Cunningham and Eleanor Josaitis needed him, he said “yes” and sang out for justice and for peace. He was a volunteer with a guitar, a song in his heart and he used both to support Focus: HOPE’s mission.

Josh Jr. was Donnie to his close friends. Donnie felt every word he sang with all his soul. He laughed and cried. He knew about human flaws and believed in possibilities. He sang about hope and encouraged us to smile and believe. He got us singing along to “It’s in every one of us to be wise” and when he sang, “I can sing a rainbow” we understood that we could too.

Donnie often sang with his dear friend, Ron Coden.

Together, their voices broke rocks on a chain gang and sent lullabies to children. Donnie sang at Ronnie’s bedside the day before Ronnie died. Their hands reaching out to each other embody the Focus: HOPE logo.

Ron Coden passed on March 5, 2024. Josh White Jr. died December 28, 2024. Their legacy and their music live on. It is sweet to imagine their hands clasping and pulling each other into a hug in a place that honors them for jobs well done.If you ever heard Donnie and his dad’s signature song, “One Meat Ball” you have it in your head right now.

Eleanor Josaitis said that we get our reward in heaven. If she was right, Donnie is finally enjoying bread and spaghetti with his meatball.