Obituaries

Jan 14, 2021

Hillsborough – Joseph Gregory Procopio, age 79, died on January 14, 2021. He was born on September 21, 1941 to the late Angeline and Gregory Procopio. Joseph graduated from Rome Free Academy in Rome, N.Y., in 1959, and earned his Bachelors and Masters degrees from the Crane School of Music at SUNY Potsdam. He also studied under scholarship at the...

Jan 14, 2021

Shirley Ann Lemke Wollner of Durham died on January 14, 2021 after living with Alzheimer ’s disease for over 24 years. Shirley’s husband of 62 years, Woodrow Wollner, died in 2015. Shirley was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1931 to Margaret Kubitz Lemke and Henry Lemke. She often told her daughters about how she and her sister Marilyn would get...

Jan 12, 2021

Benjamin Franklin Wilson, age 83, died on January 12, 2021 at his home with family. He was born to the late Francis Coley Wilson and Ruby Odell Wilson on May 10, 1937 in Granville County. Ben was a lifelong resident of Granville County and married to Montie Lou Bridgers on June 26, 1960. He was employed at Oxford Dry Cleaners...

Jan 10, 2021

DURHAM - Billie Rippy Shelton Thomas, age 94, died Meadows of Dan, VA on January 10, 2021. She was born on May 3, 1926 to the late Worth Bagley Shelton Sr. and Ruby K. Bunting Shelton. Billie graduated high school early and attended college for Accounting. She enjoyed sudoku and crossword puzzles. Billie Rippy Shelton Thomas is survived by her...

Jan 10, 2021

Jan 9, 2021

CHAPEL HILL – Erik Govert, age 23, passed away on January 9, 2021. He was born on October 4, 1997 in Columbia, MD to John and Janine Govert. After being diagnosed with autism at the age of three, Erik was tutored at home throughout his pre-school, elementary and middle school years. He also spent two years in Chapel Hill public...

Jan 7, 2021

Click here to view the Livestream service. Beaufort, NC – Michael Paige Umstead, 82, passed away in Morehead City, NC on January 7th. He was born August 7th 1938 to the late Malcolm Bruce Umstead and Etta Monk Umstead of Bahama, NC. He was raised in Bahama and served as Class President in the first graduating class of Northern High...

Jan 7, 2021

Patricia Rodgers Merwarth was born on October 7, 1930 and died January 7, 2021 of complications of congestive heart failure. She grew up in a small town in northern New Jersey where she made friends that lasted a lifetime including her husband, Dick. They became high school sweethearts, married eight years later and remained much in love for sixty seven...

Jan 7, 2021

Fredrick Elzie Lambe II, a life-long resident of Durham, died of complications as a result of the Covid-19 virus on January 7, 2021 in Greensboro, NC. He was 90 years old. Born November 10, 1930, he was the only child of Fredrick Elzie Lambe and Mary Elizabeth Hight Lambe, also of Durham. Fred attended St Mary’s and Saint Williams Catholic...

Jan 7, 2021

William (Bill) Charles Spann died January 7th in Roxboro, NC from the COVID-19 virus. He was born June 23, 1934 in Ada, Oklahoma to the late James Orval Spann and Gladys Carter Spann. After graduating from Duke University in 1956, Bill worked for Chemical Bank in New York while completing an MBA at New York University. Bill returned to North...

Jan 7, 2021

Jan 6, 2021

Margaret Mary Glynn, 96, died January 6, 2021 at Pettigrew Nursing Home. Margaret was born May 7, 1924 in Chicago, IL. She was the daughter of the late George and Julia Moylan Luebke. She married John T. Glynn in Chicago, IL in 1953. Margaret (Marge) was a successful executive at Lytton’s in Chicago prior to becoming the loving mother of...

Jan 5, 2021

Click here to view the Livestream service. David Vernon Porter, age 64, died peacefully on January 5, 2021, at his home in Durham due to complications from esophageal cancer. David was born November 27, 1956, in Durham to the late Lee Burton and Elizabeth Timmons Porter. He lived his entire life in Durham attending Charles E. Jordan High School and...

Jan 4, 2021

Kristin Herzog, age 91, died in Durham, North Carolina, on January 4, 2021. Kristin Herzog was born in Osnabrück, Germany, on March 1, 1929, as the third child of Richard Karwehl, a Lutheran minister, and his wife Margarete, a former teacher. She attended primary and secondary schools and universities in Germany and became a teacher for German and Religion in...

Jan 3, 2021

Jane Davis Rourk, OTR/L, BCP, FAOTA 82, died Sunday, January 3 at Duke Hospital following an extended illness. She was born May 14, 1938 in Charlotte NC to the late Javan and Margaret Smith Davis. Jane attended Queens College and was a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania with a degree in Occupational Therapy. The focus of her clinical experience...

Jan 1, 2021

Click here to view the Livestream service. Former Durham resident, Janice Pulley Beeson, age 83, died January 1, 2021 in Pinehurst, NC. Janice was born on February 27th, 1937, in Durham NC, to the late Wallace and Lela Pulley. Janice spent her career with Blue Cross and Blue Shield as well as with CCB and Suntrust. While being a mother...

Dec 30, 2020

Rev. Roby Turner, Jr., 85, went to be with his Lord and Savior on December 30, 2020. Born in Wilson, he was the son of the late Roby Turner, Sr. and Minnie Murphy Turner Waddell. A life-long Christian, Roby was called to his ministry at an early age. He worshiped and served the Lord. He was the pastor of the...

Dec 27, 2020

Click here to view the Livestream service. Durham – Dana Wayne Ashley, age 50, died at UNC Hospice Home on December 27, 2020. He was born on March 12, 1970 to Deborah Jean Hynes and Danny Thomas Ashley. Dana is survived by his mother, Deborah Jean Hynes; sons, Dwayne Ashley, Jeremiah Ashley, and Michael Ashley; daughter, Asia Ashley and grandchildren,...

Dec 26, 2020

Click here to view the Livestream service. On December 26, 2020, Teresa Fontenelle, “Grace" or "Ma Gordon,” to her close friends and neighbors, transitioned, in Durham, NC. She was 77 years old. Teresa resided on the island of St. Croix in the U.S.V.I. She was visiting her children and grandchildren in Durham, N.C. prior to her death. She is preceded...

Dec 26, 2020

Durham - Mrs. Eva Wade Knight, 91, died Saturday morning at 2:04am December 26, 2020. She was born on June 16, 1929 to the late William Alvin Wade and Gaynell Jones Wade of Lillington, Harnett County, NC. Eva moved to Durham in 1948 with her husband, Philip H. Knight, and daughter, Phyllis. She later went to work with American Tobacco...