Joseph White is renowned as one of the most explosive offensive basketball guards of his era, specializing in long range two-hand set shots.

He lettered in basketball, baseball, and football during his career at Bartlett High School. He served as team captain for the basketball and baseball teams in his senior year.

It was in basketball where he excelled, to the delight of the fans.

The 1932 basketball team, coached by the legendary George Finnegan, broke a school record when it won 20 games for the first time in a season. The Indians finished with a 20-3 record and won the Southern Worcester County League Championship. The team, nicknamed the Basketball Five, consisted of Anthony Wojciechowski, Edward Terlecki, Bernard Bazinet, Bennie Kozlowski, and Joe White. The quintet remained lifelong friends, reuniting on a regular basis.

During that 1932 season, Joe scored 347 points, breaking both the school and league record. It was a significant achievement since teams in those days rarely scored more than 40 points a game. There were several games where Joe out-scored the entire opposing team combined.

Joe was highly recruited by Holy Cross and several Boston-area colleges. However, he decided to play at Nichols college for what he reportedly said was due to the friendliness of the coach. His family suspects, however, that he wanted to stay close to his high school sweetheart, Marguerite Patenaude, who he was married to for 59 years before his death in 1994. At Nichols, Joe played all three sports and was captain of the football and basketball team, and in 1976 was inducted into the Nichols Athletic Hall of Fame.

Joe was a World War II veteran and afterward owned and managed the family real estate business, White Inc. Joe leaves two sons, Joe, Jr., 64 and Bruce, 53.