Jack White has announced that his mother, Teresa Gillis, has passed away at the age of 95.
Gillis had 10 children and was 45 when she gave birth to Jack, the family’s seventh son. According to The Detroit Daily News, she once worked as an usher at Detroit’s Masonic Temple and later served as a secretary for the Archdiocese of Detroit. White credited his mother with instilling his work ethic.
Gillis was a devout Catholic who raised her children in the church; White was an altar boy and briefly considered becoming a priest before pursing music. Spirituality and symbolism rooted in his religious upbringing have since become foundational elements of his artistic aesthetic.
When Jack played shows in Detroit, his mother was often in attendance; in 2018, he even brought her onstage to dance and sing along to “Hotel Yorba.” In 2023, he dedicated the same song to her as she watched from the balcony.
She also had a wicked sense of humor: back in January, Jack shared that she FaceTimed him during an ice storm and joked, “They’re saying on the news that you should check on older people during this ice storm, so I thought I’d give you a call.”
In a tribute to Instagram, Jack said his mother was “a woman who gave so much of her love, and gave so much of herself, to her family and everyone she met. She prayed for everyone daily. She loved the song ‘Don’t fence me in,’ and loved jigsaw puzzles and good Polish food. She smiled and laughed so much, especially in these last few days with her family, who will all miss her dearly. She was the youngest of ten just like me, so we had that special bond together on top of everything else she gave me. They really don’t make them like this anymore, and as George Jones once sang, that tough question lingers, ‘Who’s gonna fill their shoes?’ She was a Saint.”
