Doris "White Wolf" Elaine (Atkins) McFadden

Doris “White Wolf” (Atkins) McFadden

September 17, 1930 - January 13, 2025

Longtime Camp Verde resident Doris “White Wolf” McFadden passed on January 13, 2025, at the Carefree Assisted Living Center in Cottonwood, Arizona. Born in Richmond, California, on September 17, 1930, to Thomas and Anna Adkins. In 2012 she was honored to receive her name, “White Wolf”, at a sacred naming ceremony held at the wolf sanctuary at Healing Wolf’s Medicine Wheel Lodge in Rimrock.

White Wolf was a dog trainer, wolf activist, and educator. Throughout her life she was guided by the Spirit of the Wolf, the Voice of the Raven, and the Courage of the Lone Ranger. An inspiration to all who knew her, she followed her lifelong interests in animals, the environment, and living a creative life. She embodied a true woman of the Old West.

White Wolf received a BA in Secondary Education, Music, and Art from San Francisco State College in 1951. She married Don McFadden in 1964, and in 1985, they moved to Camp Verde to live a Western life. She was a Harvey Girl at Fred Harvey’s Grand Canyon Bright Angel Lodge, and Don was a mule trail guide. She and Don raised Appaloosa horses on their own ranch from 1960 to the 1970s. Don served as her assistant dog trainer and, known as Ike, often worked as a cowboy reenactor.  

After Don passed, White Wolf continued to live in Camp Verde until she moved to Cottonwood in 2017. A horse lover since her teens, White Wolf had worked at the Golden Gate racetrack in northern California. Later in her 90s, she enjoyed watching horse racing on TV from her recliner in Pine Shadows.

She worked passionately for organizations that supported animals and the environment and became an engaging speaker on wolf reintroduction. She supported the National Wildlife Federation, Wolf Heaven International, and served on the Board of Directors for the U.S. Wolf Refuge in Sparks, Nevada. She was also a Legacy Society member of Guide Dogs for the Blind.

When she was 76, White Wolf met yoga teacher Carol “Bright Feather“ Oveross and began gentle chair yoga and a loving friendship, later graduating to a floor practice until age 90. Together they followed their dream adventure to Egypt.

A lifelong storyteller, “Wolf Howl, Raven Speak” is a collection of her stories and poems published in 2014. She lived in the Pine Shadows Community in Cottonwood from 2014 until June 2024, when she moved to Carefree Assisted Living.

She was preceded in death by her parents and in 2004 her husband, Don. She will be lovingly remembered by many friends. A Celebration of Life will be held in spring. Please consider a donation in her honor to Guide Dogs for the Blind at www.guidedogsfortheblind.org or the U.S. Wolf Refuge.

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