YOUR BUSINESS AUTHORITY
Springfield, MO
YOUR BUSINESS AUTHORITY
Springfield, MO
The CEO of Kanakuk, a Branson-based Christian sports camp network founded in 1926 that attracts young attendees from around the nation, said he is retiring this summer.
Citing health concerns, Joe White, owner, CEO and chair of the camp’s board, made the announcement May 5 in an email obtained by Springfield Business Journal that was reportedly sent to families of campers and others by Kanakuk Ministries.
“At age 77, it is time for my retirement as CEO and chairman of the board as of Aug. 31, 2026,” reads the email signed by White. “It is super sad to write these words today but, as Ecclesiastes 3:1 aptly says, ‘For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.’”
White’s email states he was diagnosed with leukemia in 2000, and in the 26 years that followed he has undergone 35 surgeries and the loss of his legs as he continues to fight infections.
The email notes White and his wife, Debbie-Jo White, have overseen Kanakuk for approximately 50 years. According to JoeWhiteKanakuk.com, White’s parents, Spike and Darnell White, purchased Kanakuk in 1955, and Joe White and his wife, Debbie-Jo White, took over in 1976.
Additionally, White's email says he and camp officials "have been training layers of magnificent future leaders" to "ensure that Kanakuk continues to improve and give more and more kids the 'Best Summer Ever' into the foreseeable future."
According to Kanakuk’s website, some 450,000 campers have attended Kanakuk over the past century, and the camp employs around 1,800 summer staffers. White’s email notes during his time overseeing the camp, Kanakuk has employed tens of thousands of staffers.
The email does not state who is expected to succeed White as CEO and board chair following his retirement’s effective date or whether Debbie-Jo White is retiring. SBJ has reached out to White and Kanakuk officials to learn more about the leadership transition and Kanakuk business matters.
Kanakuk in recent years has been dogged by criticism over its response to sexual abuse of children by a former camp director, Peter Newman, now serving consecutive life sentences in Missouri prison, according to the Department of Corrections. Criticism has also focused on abuse allegations leveled against others linked to the camp.
Newman was convicted in Taney County Circuit Court in 2009 of sexual abuse of boys at the camp, Missouri online court records show.
Public awareness about allegations against Kanakuk was renewed beginning in 2021 with reporting on sexual abuse allegations by author Nancy French and New York Times columnist David French published by The Dispatch, a conservative news website. Subsequently, news outlets including Vice News, USA Today, the Springfield News-Leader and the Branson Tri-Lakes News reported on abuse allegations as well as numerous civil lawsuits filed by those who say they were victims against Kanakuk, White, Newman and others linked to the camp.
Elizabeth Carlock Phillips is a Texas-based advocate for those who identify themselves as survivors of sex abuse linked to Kanakuk through a website and social media accounts dubbed Facts About Kanakuk. She is also an advocate of reforming nondisclosure agreement laws nationwide, such that child sexual abuse survivors would not be bound by NDAs linked to sex abuse lawsuit settlements.
Her brother, Trey Carlock, died by suicide in 2019 at age 28 following alleged abuse at the camp, according to his obituary in the Dallas Morning News.
Carlock Phillips on May 6 provided a written statement to SBJ commenting on White’s announced retirement.
“It’s disappointing that Joe White would send out a resignation letter omitting the very publicly known child sexual abuse that’s gone on for decades under his leadership,” Carlock Phillips’ statement reads. “This isn’t retirement; it’s a cop out. I fear parents and camp families may now say ‘there’s been a leadership transition, so everything is fine now.’ No – Kanakuk is not safe and there has not been any real change, accountability or justice for victims. This is yet another PR move, and survivors are not surprised nor appeased by Joe White stepping back cowardly.”
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