A remembrance of some among those our community lost this year:
Kenneth P. Strong, longtime PlayMakers Repertory Company actor and dramatic arts professor at UNC, of cancer.
Carolyn Roycroft Cobb, a member of the Preservation Society and the Cancer Task Force for North Carolina and a Brownie and Girl Scout leader.
Tom Robinson, seafood merchant and a sharp-witted, sometimes-acerbic, honest and forthright individual, following a brief illness.
Dan Pollitt, civil-liberties champion, civil-rights pioneer and longtime UNC law professor, at 88.
Virginia E. Tolliver, teacher, administrator and civic leader.
Pearson H. Stewart, the first vice president of the Research Triangle Foundation and first executive director of the Research Triangle Regional Planning Commission and its successor agency, the Triangle J Council of Governments, at 90.
Andrew John Miketa, professional football player and local dentist, while undergoing emergency surgery.
Ike Andrews, six-term representative of North Carolina’s 4th Congressional District, at 84.
Virginia Julian, passionate equestrian and founder and owner, with her husband, of Milton’s Clothing Cupboard in Chapel Hill.
Ashley Osment, skilled legal strategist and tactician, fierce champion of justice and advocate for an underdog, musician and mother, at 46, of ovarian cancer.
Toy Cheek, local farmer, active member of both the Orange County Cattleman’s Association and the Carrboro Planning Board, at 81.
Warren Nord, founding director of the Program in the Humanities and Human Values at UNC, of leukemia.
Bertha “B†Merrill Holt, the first women to enroll in the University of North Carolina’s School of Law and the only woman in her class.
Mary Francis Eldridge, board member of the Friends of the Carrboro Branch Library and longtime community volunteer, at 83.
David Roberts, former Chapel Hill town clerk and tax collector, at Carillon Assisted Living in Hillsborough.
Homer Morrow, the “unofficial mayor of Carrboro†and a familiar face to many, at 68.
Lucy McKerrow, a physical therapist for those with disabilities and a teacher of tennis and bowling to generations of high school girls, at the age of 105.
Rob Hogan, a local farmer and a friend to many, from injuries sustained from a fall while stepping down from his tractor.
Arthur Cogswell, whose work and mentorship of others inspired new directions in architecture.
Arlene Nutter “Muffin†Brosig, known throughout the community as the co-founder of Maple View Ice Cream and for her charitable work, of cancer, at 53.
June Watson, supervising nurse in N.C. Memorial Hospital’s outpatient department, surrounded by family and friends in her Dogwood Acres home.
Wesley Lowder, owner of the Reservoir Bar in Chapel Hill, at 32, of injuries sustained in an automobile accident.
Howard Pendergraph, a detective with the Chapel Hill Police Department for 35 years, at 86.
Marie Louise “Peachee†Wicker, one of the first women to graduate from UNC with a master’s in psychology and a driving force behind the movement to integrate the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools.
Nancy Sitterson, a member of the first public library board, organizer for Meals on Wheels, active member of Chapel of the Cross Episcopal Church and co-founder of the Carol Woods rose garden, at 91.
Elizabeth Edwards, wife of presidential candidate John Edwards, author and advocate for health care reform, at 61, of cancer.
Gordon Allen, who represented Orange and Person counties and served in both the N.C. House and Senate, at 81.