They were fathers and mothers, husbands and wives, sons and daughters, grandparents, friends and neighbors — and a part of our lives. Let us remember, they walked among us, and may we never forget.
They were among the loved ones we lost in 2022.
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Mary Lou D’Jinis Farrell, 92. Raising her boys along Fairway Drive was among her happiest of days. July 13, 2022
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Pauline “Polly” Lucile Orr, 90. A schoolteacher with a love for her students. A devoted member at Snyder Memorial Baptist Church. July 17, 2022
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Dr. Kamal Manubhai Bakri, 72. Co-director of medical oncology and director of the Cancer Center at Cape Fear Valley Health, where every cancer patient had a friend with a receptive ear. The lives this good oncologist touched are too many to count. July 28, 2022
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Donald Bertino, 97. A World War II veteran who traveled in 2019 for the 75th Battle of the Bulge Anniversary of the 1944 Christmas Midnight Mass. A volunteer at the Airborne & Special Operations Museum and a recipient of the French Legion of Honor. Forever the soldier, he was. Aug. 2, 2022
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Margaret Ann Glenn, 90. A sweet lady if there ever was. Aug. 6, 2022
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Anne McCabe Nimocks, 87. From the Retired Senior Volunteer Program to executive director of United Way of Cumberland County, no one did it better in her time. Aug. 10, 2022
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Mary Louise Patrick, 78. Lift high the cross, president of “The People’s Cross’’ along U.S. 301 always believed. “It’s not there for my glory,” she would say in 2013. “It’s for God’s glory.” Aug. 18, 2022
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Sushila Nari Bhavnani, 93. An inspiration to others. Aug. 19, 2022
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Janet Fonke Joseph, 66. A shing beacon of love and faith in her Lord and savior all of her days. Aug. 28, 2022
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Brenda Heath Wilson, 75. “The kids would go dance to tunes blasting from a jukebox,” the Rev. Bruce Herrmann would say about Miss Fayetteville, 1966. “Gary was 17 and noticed 15-year-old Brenda and asked her to dance.” Together, they would dance for a lifetime. He would hold her close. She would hold him dear. Aug. 29, 2022
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Hilda “Gibsie” Dees Melton, 88. Massey Hill High School, class of 1952. Proud to be a “Pirate” and prouder to be loved by that husband all knew as “Buck.” Sept. 4, 2022
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Michael Lynn Warren, 65. Fishing at the beach. Hunting on the farm. Coke floats for the grandchildren or just hanging out on the back patio with the wife he loved for 38 years and the son and daughter and those grandchildren — all the light of his life. A loving and generous man when it came to this community, and dearly missed. Sept. 10, 2022
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Nell Smith Sexton, 92. As much a part of Highland Presbyterian Church as the white columns leading into the sanctuary, where she was administrative assistant to pastors for 51 years. Sept. 12, 2022
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Charles Todd Lecka, 95. “I have lived a good life,” Lecka would want us to remember. “I am the most blessed man in the world. I have lived the most wonderful life. And if I got to live it all over again, I wouldn’t change a single day. Not one day.” Sept. 16, 2022
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Jane Farrell Cheney, 81. Fayetteville High School, class of ’59, and the best of days dancing to the “Carolina shag” at White Lake and Ocean Drive, and saying “I do” to the love of her life for 60 years. Sept. 19, 2022
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Natalie Mae Guy, 73. A love for her family, animals and a heart of gold. Sept. 21, 2022
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Wilson A. Lacy, 74. “He always had in mind serving the best interests of the students and PWC customers.” He worked with Cumberland County Schools from 1994 to 2018 and was a member of the Fayetteville Public Works Commission from 2001 to 2013, including three terms as board chairman. “To really speak about a person … we have to look into his heart. That is where you find the true test of a man.” Sept. 22, 2022
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Donald Allen Reid, 74. A husband to love. A father to lean on. Grandchildren for a grandfather to dote on. And a generous spirit for helping others. Sept. 26, 2022
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Tom Kostas Poulos, 78. The Pizza Palace # 2, where customers and pizzas and the pasta were his pride. Oct. 3, 2022
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Dorothy May (Kiser) Crutchfield, 93. Hers was a lifetime of lessons for others to live by. Oct. 6, 2022
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Olga “Bo” Thorp, 89. First lady of the Cape Fear Regional Theatre stage. Oct. 14, 2022
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William L. Hedgepeth, 86. Beloved husband, father, grandfather, father-in-law and brother. The “rock of the family.” Oct. 18, 2022
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Ernest “Stanley” Owen, 89. He loved singing the gospel hymns, remembering the “good ole days” and taking the time to admire God’s beauty in all things. He reached out to the homeless and enjoyed customers at the garden center, where peanuts and good conversation were a part of his plants, shrubs and flowers. Oct. 18, 2022
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Coryonna Treasure Young, 15. With pretty brown eyes, and a bright and welcoming smile. With so much life to live and so much more in life to give. Oct. 21, 2022
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Tammy Michele Brocato, 54. No matter the odds, she never lost her faith in God. Oct. 31, 2022
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John Milton Rose Jr., 99. A veteran and son of Fayetteville. He served in the U.S Air Force for more than 31 years as a command pilot with more than 4,000 flight hours before retiring in 1975 as a brigadier general. Nov. 7, 2022
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John M. Monaghan, 70. A former assistant city manager who was quiet, compassionate and with a witty persona that helped him make and keep friends for a lifetime. Nov. 12, 2022
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Jack T. Kelly, 85. A soldier’s solder to include battalion commander with the 82nd Airborne Division and deputy commander, 5th Special Forces. Nov. 17, 2022
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Lottie M. Hedgepeth, 86. Grace, compassion, kindness, patience, joy and a determination to put others’ happiness above her own. Nov. 21, 2022
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Conrad E. Lopes, 68. From Massey Hill to Hillcrest to Pine Forest, Seventy-First and Jack Britt, he was an educator. Nov. 24, 2022
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Samuel Pittman Guy II, 76. A hunting trip. A good cup of coffee, and all of those students he taught for 53 years in Cumberland County Schools, and at his beloved Guy School, too. Dec. 1, 2022
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Betty Baker Price, 76. With a beautiful smile, she made a family whole and a house a home. Dec. 9, 2022
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Oscar Yovani Bolanos-Anavisca Jr., 23. “It was just something about Oscar — that smile,” Cumberland County Sheriff Ennis Wright would remember of his young deputy. ”You could feel the passion that he had. That he wanted to be a law enforcement officer.” A passionate Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office deputy taken in the line of duty. Dec. 16, 2022
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Barbara Vossler Lepper, 88. Generous and kind-hearted. Beautiful inside and out. Dec. 17, 2022
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Jennifer Ann Dasky Van Soelen, 53. A registered nurse with a compassionate heart, and the babies for sure. Dec. 18, 2022
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David T. Temple, 71. Terry Sanford High School, class of 1970. Always with a smile. One of the good guys. Dec. 20, 2022
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Ruth Jackson Dalton, 92. From her knits to her crochets to her quilts to her fried chicken, homemade biscuits and tea, she was a mother to remember, and the sons and daughter she raised will have you know Ruth Jackson Dalton was a mother who forever will live in their hearts. Dec. 26, 2022
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Dell Proctor Kistler Hollstein, 96. A woman of inspirational resolve for others, and she danced her way through life with a joy for raising her children and community involvement to include the Arts Council of Fayetteville-Cumberland County, founder of the Fayetteville Museum of Art, the N.C. Symphony, the Cape Fear Regional Theatre and the YMCA. Dec. 26, 2022
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Bill Kirby Jr. can be reached at billkirby49@gmail.com or 910-624-1961.
