They were fathers and mothers, husbands and wives, sons and daughters, grandparents, friends and neighbors — and a part of our lives. They were among the loved ones we lost in 2023. Let us remember, they walked among us, and may we never forget.
Joycelyn “Joy” Walden Cogswell, 75. “I believe God gave me a gift to be able to share his love through my hands. That’s always been my goal: to have people not look at me, but to hear what God is trying to say to them through the music.” Jan. 2.
Alan Miller Porter, 89. Founder of the Community Chorus and the Cumberland Oratorio Singers and 45 years with the Music Department at Methodist University and former choir director at Hay Street United Methodist Church. Jan. 9.
Merle Elizabeth Rainey Prewitt, 94. She wanted nothing more than for Fayetteville to be a better place. And they lost count of the many caps she knitted for children suffering from cancer. Jan. 12.
Bonnie Bell McGowan, 68. “Everyone here is a better person because of how you touched their lives. Always giving … never wanting or asking anything in return,” a husband would remember. “You gave, you gave, you gave, until there was nothing left to give. You are in God’s hands now, and it’s time for you to receive all his blessings that you so richly deserve.” Jan. 12.
Robert Glenn “Bob” Carter, 86. For 32 years, he was chaplain at Cape Fear Valley Medical Center, and was always there for patients and families in their time of pastoral care. Jan. 14.
Faye Holder Riddle, 70. A woman of grace. Jan. 17.
Gary Thomas Horne Sr., 74. Good music, a place to dance the shag, a round of golf with his buddies and being with family brought him joy. Jan. 20.
Mark Douglas Blanton, 66. Lake Tillery was his happy place, with the sun shining upon his face. He was one of the Blanton boys, with a heart for others. Jan. 29.
Earl Maness Chason, 80. “Strangers are friends that I have not met yet.” Feb 7.
Robert “Bob” Albert Peele, 78. He lived life on his own terms. He did it his way. Feb. 7.
Judye Bass Bleecker, 76. From the Fayetteville Family Life Center, the Fayetteville Symphony Orchestra, the Fayetteville Garden Club, the Fayetteville Literary Guild, the Junior League of Fayetteville and First Presbyterian Church, you’ll find her name. Feb. 12.
Anna Brady Gore, 78. She never met a stranger. Feb. 15.
Anne Mitchell Sternlicht, 87. You’ll find her footsteps from Hawaii to Alaska to Europe to the Holy Land, and throughout Fayetteville she loved calling home. Feb. 17.
Rebecca “Becky” Sides Riddle, 78. “My mom was my best friend, and she loved watching her grandchildren play in the backyard. She had the best brown eyes, and that smile. And how I will miss her.” Feb. 22.
Elizabeth “Beth” Hall Player, 83. With joyful and engaging ways, and one who forever kept her love of the Lord close to her heart. Feb. 25.
Lorraine “Lorry’ Williams, 59. The consummate journalist, who held herself and all of us to the highest hallmarks of journalism. We called her Lorry. Her desk is silent and the twin desktop computer screens are dark. Her journalism legacy from The Fayetteville Observer to CityView Today is forever. Feb. 28.
Van Havel Stryk, 91. You’ll find her fingerprints throughout this community, from the Museum of the Cape Fear, The Care Clinic, the Clairway Garden Club and Saint Patrick Catholic Church. March 2.
Steve Aldridge, 72. “A high school football player scoring a touchdown, a paratrooper, a deployment or a plane crash,” daughter Rachel Aldridge would remember her father’s long news photography career. “Dad experienced life through his lens.” March 2.
Mildred Jones Guy, 96. A family’s matriarch and a family’s rock. March 4.
William Edwin “Billy” Clark, 80. From the city attorney’s office to four terms in the state legislature. March 20.
Sue McKinnon Priest, 87. A woman of good humor, hospitality and caring ways for others. March 20.
Dorothy Ann Taylor Gilbert, 93. From the Junior League of Fayetteville to the Lafayette Garden Club to the Cotillion Club to First Presbyterian Church, where her faith in her Lord and Savior was devout. March 22.
Elmer Rowland Hall, 102. “Nobody has had as good a life as I have.” April 16.
Philip Earl Rugg, 75. Never a moment of hesitation to help a friend in need. April 19.
Grace Miller Henderson, 94. Someone has a birthday coming up. A couple is celebrating a wedding anniversary. There’s someone in the hospital who could use a “get well soon” card and encouragement that better days are ahead. There’s a celebration somewhere, when only a card from Grace’s Hallmark will do. And something else, the preacher would remind, “Reading scripture was an important part of Grace’s day. She read the Bible cover to cover numerous times. The legacy Grace leaves mirrors life lessons she learned through attending church and reading her Bible. May 12.
Theodore Blake “Dick” Blount Jr., 91. If you were a politician, a business executive, a high school athlete or a college or high school graduate in the late 1960s to the mid-1990s, it’s likely that your image is on a roll of film or the face of one of the thousands upon thousands upon thousands of photographs that Dick Blount snapped in his newspaper photography career from 1969 to 1994 at The Fayetteville Observer. May 21.
Raymond “Ray” Codrington, 86. A gifted jazz musician and band leader with a God-given talent for the saxophone and the trumpet, and a jazz musician with few peers. May 28.
Roger Mercer, 76. For the love of camellias, magnolias, azaleas, plants and his beloved daylilies, and Cape Fear Botanical Garden. June 15.
Michael Melchionda Jr, 75. Friends called him “Fonzie,” and “Fonzie” was loved by all of his friends. June 29.
Coming Friday: Part 2
Bill Kirby Jr. can be reached at billkirby49@gmail.com or 910-624-1961.
