Retired Master Sgt. Robert Lee White, a standout drummer in the Miami Central High School and Florida A&M University bands who played for presidents, prime ministers and the military's honored dead with the United States Army Band, died June 17 at age 53.

White, of Maryland, had an aggressive form of lung cancer although he never smoked, said his older sister, Yvonne Harris of Plantation.

Known as ``Pershing's Own,'' the elite, 260-member band was formed in 1922 by Army Chief of Staff John J. Pershing, and is based at Fort Myer, Va.

Once accepted, White made a three-year commitment to the Army and went through basic training. He stayed for 22 years.

After retiring from the Army in 2000, White took his high-security clearance to the federal Office of Personnel Management where, as a special agent, he planned security systems for government buildings, his sister said.

White was buried July 3 in the Pershing's Own section of Arlington National Cemetery. As part of the Army's Ceremonial Band -- a 70-instrument ensemble drawn from the main band -- he had honored scores of fallen service members at Arlington funerals.

His band mates did the same for him.

``The Ceremonial Band plays at official arrival functions and parades in the D.C. area, but its main commitment is Arlington,'' said Sgt. Maj. Bob Powers, a euphonium player and White's friend.

In addition, White was one of three percussionists with the band's even more specialized U.S. Army Herald Trumpets, which Powers called ``the official fanfare trumpets for the White House.''

He mastered the ``rope'' snare drum -- tuned with rope embedded in the drum hoop rather than a with a key -- and the timpani, or kettle drum. He played for the presidential inaugurations of Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton -- and at a presidential funeral: that of Lyndon B. Johnson in 1973.

He played at the 1984 Los Angeles Summer Olympics, the 1990 Houston G8 Summit, and for foreign dignitaries around the world.

Kenneth Tolbert, Central's band director from 1971 to 1985, called White ``the best student I had in 31 years. The first thing I noticed about him was that he was very mature . . . He was totally into the playing of his instrument.''

Even after rehearsing at school, ``he'd practice additional two, three hours a day,'' Tolbert recalled. ``He became section leader as a ninth grader,'' the same year he earned Central's first ``superior'' medal in all-state band.

On Saturdays, he would lead marching-band members through the neighborhood near Arcola Park, ``recruiting for the band,'' Tolbert said. ``He was very humble, and all the kids respected him.''

Robert Lee White, born at home in Overtown and raised in Liberty City, traced his ancestry to the Bahamas. In the 1920s, his parents, Nathaniel and Agatha Finley White, moved from Key West to Miami, where, said Harris, Nathaniel became one of the Greyhound Bus company's first black mechanics.

White's first instrument was the trumpet, which his sister said he began playing in an Overtown youth club. An older brother got him interested in the drums.

``He just took to it like a duck to water,'' Harris said. ``He took his drumsticks wherever he went . . . He loved to practice.''

Ronnie Wilson, a professional drummer from Carol City, remembers meeting White at a Miami-Dade County junior high band festival. White attended what is now Madison Middle School; Wilson attended Allapattah.

They played in all-county and all-state bands at Central and became roommates at FAMU.

Religious, unselfish and a natural leader, White was named coordinator of the Marching 100's 28-member percussion section, Wilson said, and jumped at the chance to audition when the President's Band gave a concert at FAMU.

Wilson said he ``wasn't surprised'' when his friend made the cut.

``Robert had a keen awareness and keen sense of the music,'' Wilson said. ``He's a great sight reader -- second to none.''

In addition to his sister, White -- divorced from the mother of his three children -- is survived by his wife of four years, Michelle, and daughter Kimberly of Upper Marlboro, Md., son Stephen of Baltimore, and brothers Nathaniel and Vincent of Miami.

Son Robert Leon White died in an Army tank-training accident at Fort Hood, Texas, in 2002. He was 20.

Despite that heartbreak, her brother ``was very grateful for life he had,'' Harris said. ``He had a wonderful family and great friends, and he traveled all over the world and saw all kinds of things.''

A memorial service is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. Saturday at St. Mary's Wesleyan Methodist Church, 4798 NW Eighth Ave. The family welcomes memorial donations to FAMU's Marching 100 or the St. Mary's expansion fund.