Louise H. Wilkerson, the choral music teacher who launched thousands of singers in Wake County, has died at the age of 94. She was born in Raleigh on October 5, 1924, the daughter of John Henry and Kate Herring Highsmith. She graduated from Hugh Morson High School, attended Peace College for one year and graduated from the Women’s College of the University of N.C. in Greensboro, now known as UNC-G, with a Bachelor of Science degree in Music.
Louise taught music in the Public School Systems of Winston-Salem, NC, where she was also choir director of Ardmore Methodist Church, and in Richmond, VA. She married Louis R. Wilkerson in 1949 and they returned to Raleigh in 1956 upon completion of his medical training at the Medical College of Virginia in Richmond. She was active in the Wake County Medical Auxiliary (now Wake County Medical Alliance), the Raleigh Junior Woman’s Club, and the Woman’s Club of Raleigh.
Louise was a devoted life-long member of Edenton Street United Methodist Church where she served in many capacities including choir soloist and assistant choir director. She was also a member of the Jim Marshall Singers, the North Carolina Master Chorale, formerly the Raleigh Oratorio Society, and was choir director of the Raleigh Moravian Church for several years.
Funeral services will be held at 2:00 pm Monday, April 22nd at Edenton Street UMC. The family will receive visitors in the adjacent Garden Gallery following the service. A private interment at Oakwood Cemetery will precede the funeral service.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Edenton Street United Methodist Church, 228 W. Edenton Street Raleigh NC 27603, Transitions LifeCare, 250 Hospice Circle Raleigh NC 27607, or the Raleigh Boy Choir, 1329 Ridge Road Raleigh NC 27607.
Her obit is here: https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/newsobserver/obituary.aspx?n=louise-h-wilkerson&pid=192586250&fhid=5774
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Janice Tice Wing, 88, is survived by her husband Stafford and their four daughters:Tara Wing McKellar (Chris) of Durham NC , Leslie Wing Pomeroy (Bill) of Lafayette CO, Erika Wing of Chapel Hill and Claudia Wing Curran (Matt) of Raleigh NC. She was the youngest of four daughters born in Greenville, SC to Blanche Fowler Tice and Arthur Charles Tice. In high school, she met Stafford Wing, allowing his attentions to her to grow into courtship, love, and a marriage of 64 years. Stafford and Janice were lifelong mates who built a fine family and cultivated professions that allowed for their mutual growth, career satisfaction, and love for more than six decades. In their youth, they grew up together in many ways. Janice, a trained pianist, was actually Stafford’s very first accompanist in his pathway to a professional music career. Their first place awards in competitions earned the young couple encouragement and validation and a certain degree of popularity amongst their peers.
Janice earned the BA degree from Palm Beach Junior College and RN at Johns Hopkins School of Nursing, a prestigious and rigorous program which for its students immediately demanded responsibility and excellence in patient care. It was a perfect fit for Janice. She received her BSN degree from Johns Hopkins University and was on the staff of Johns Hopkins Hospital when she married. She and Stafford were quite a couple. Janice used to say: “I was prepared to be the wife of a Minister of Music, instead, he (Stafford) took me around the world”. As the family traveled for Stafford’s studies and his musical career, Janice was quite versatile and always contributed to the benefit of the family as her career in nursing continued. In Baton Rouge, LA she was a nurse for a private obstetrics practice, in Vienna at the International Atomic Energy Headquarters she was a secretary for three scientists from Austria, England and Japan. In New York at the New York University Medical Center she was Staff and Patient Educator for the Operating Rooms. In 1969, the family moved to Chapel Hill, NC for a university position for Stafford in the UNC-CH Department of Music. At UNC Hospitals, Janice enjoyed her career as a Staff and Patient Educator for the Operating Rooms. She oriented and trained hundreds of nursing students, medical students, and residents until retirement after more than 20 years of service. Her work has touched the lives of many in an important way, a sentiment still expressed by her former students. She also made deeply satisfying friendships with special colleagues.
Janice always enjoyed her time with family and with friends. She delighted in cooking, gardening, and hosting receptions for Stafford after his musical performances. Her other talents included sewing clothing for her children and herself and refinishing and upholstering furniture. Janice could quickly produce an elegant reception one day and be gardening with her hands in dirt the next day. She loved her South Carolina fresh peaches and she created an unforgettable Umbrella Dance when celebrating with friends at the beach. She always knew how to share a good time. It is believed that Janice would most like to be remembered for her love of family, her deeply satisfying friendships, her patience with the sick or troubled, and her compassion for others. She was always a source of help and counsel for her daughters, fondly referred to as “Granny 911” in times of need by at least one slightly inept son-in-law.
A funeral service is planned for May 18th at 10:30 A.M. at The Chapel of the Cross, 304 East Franklin Street in Chapel Hill, NC.
Her obit is here: http://www.memorialsolutions.com/sitemaker/sites/Cremat2/m/?p=memorial&id=2168878
