Donna Scott (Scottie) Rabil
Loving wife and companion of her husband, James, and mother to her sons, Phillip and Christopher, Scottie Rabil was also the foster mother of 22 foster children. She had served as President of the Rocky Mount Area Adoption Support Group, was vice-president of the Nash County Foster Parent Association, and was also a member of the board of directors of the Friends of the Rocky Mount Children’s Museum.
Scottie was a dedicated volunteer at Nash General Hospital with over 2,000 hours of service. She was a member of the Board of Directors of the hospital auxiliary and was former chairman of the Junior Volunteers there. She was a life-time member of First United Methodist Church and a former member of the Friendship Circle.
Ira Kent Raynor
Ira Kent Raynor was a fun loving, dedicated, hard worker. He was a devoted father, son, husband, grandfather, neighbor and friend. Friends referred to him as “Toy Boy.” His favorite toy was a 1971 Volkswagen he enjoyed restoring. Convertibles were his favorites, and he was frequently seen riding his grandchildren around in these, with the top down. Trevor, Madison, Alex, Jared, and Tanner just loved to put on an old hat and ride with “Pa” through the neighborhood, as they laughed, sang and squealed. Neighbors reminisce about how they were always seeing Kent playing with the grandchildren either on the cars or the tractor-lawn mower.
He was also known to cater to the children in the neighborhood when his own children were growing up. He always bought a community Christmas present for the children. He would wrap it and all the children would come by and write their guess as to what it was on the wrapped box. The one that guessed it would get to keep the gift. They could never guess it, because it was usually something very odd, such as a unicycle. He enjoyed his children, his neighbors, and his employees. Many said he was the daddy they never had. I used to ask him if he was ever going to grow up. His answer was always “I hope not!”
He was always communicating with bird-calls, or silly nonsense statements such as “hurry, the dogs are coming.” Or “hurry and get up, the frost is on the pumpkins.” The children would always get wide awake at these silly comments, as they tried to figure out what he was talking about. His favorite breakfast statement was “do you want corn flakes, or CORN FLAKES?”
We started Angier Paint, Wallpaper & Carpet Services in 1973. He became know as “the paint man.” His handle was “paint man” as he ran Martin-Senior Paint and Decorating Store. Kent created a tremendous business because he was a man of his word. People knew he would deliver a quality product and stand behind it with reputable service. He was always there for those in need, with words to pick one up.
Kent was a lover of life and he loved the Lord. He was very outgoing, handsome, and athletic. He loved to golf, fish, and in his younger days played football, snow skied, and water skied. He loved to entertain and did a lot of cookouts for a ball team he sponsored, and did a Christmas morning breakfast each year for about 50-75 neighbors and friends.
Cornelio Tamoria Requidan, CPO USN (Ret)
Cornelio Tamoria Requidan made the most of the time he was given on this earth. Coming from humble beginnings in the Philippines, he joined the US Navy on 6/4/45 as a steward during the last days of World War II. His first tour of duty was on a submarine in Honolulu, then a cargo ship off the coast of Korea. He married Trinidad Garcia on 8/28/52 in the Philippines. He was stationed in Norfolk, VA from 1953-1959 until his transfer to the Navy Yard in Washington, DC. The family stayed in Washington while he did a short tour of duty on the USS Barry in the Mediterranean during the Vietnam War. When he returned to Washington, he was stationed at the National Naval Medical Center, Bethesda, MD.
Neither his humble beginnings nor his lack of formal education could stop Cornelio from displaying natural leadership abilities. His ability to command and work with his fellow sailors led to his advancement and awards within the Navy. He combined this outstanding leadership ability with a work ethic that led him to serve under three Surgeon Generals as a Navy steward: Vice-Admiral Robert B. Brown, 1964-1969; Vice Admiral George M. Davis, 1969-1973; Vice-Admiral Donald Custis, 1973-1975. The difficult task of running their households required him to manage countless details and to oversee the work of numerous individuals. He excelled at this position because of the honorable, industrious individual that he was. After 30 years of dedicated service, he retired holding the highest rating an enlisted man can hold, that of Senior Chief. His service career was marked by loyalty, honesty, and extreme devotion to his career and to his family.
Although he labored hard at his chosen profession, Cornelio always took the time to enjoy the fruits of his labor. A kind, contented and dedicated family man, he felt most blessed when surrounded by the love and comfort of his wife, children and friends. These gatherings were marked by an abundance of food, drink, good times, and fellowship. When not surrounded by his loved ones, he actively pursued various hobbies, such as fishing, gardening, and building. He loved to work whether as a Navy steward, or as a private man pursuing his passion.
As a husband, father, grandfather, and friend he will be sorely missed, but the legacy of his love will continue through his children Rick (Margaret) Requidan, Ailsa (Jerry) White, his grandchildren Erick (Veronica) Requidan, Peter Haas, Stephanie Haas, Melanie White, and many nephews and nieces of Rockville, MD, NY, CA, and the Philippines.
If Cornelio’s life could be an example, it would be to work as hard as you can at the tasks God has given you. Take what you have been given and use your natural talents and abilities to make the most of what you have. When your labor has borne fruit, enjoy those fruits in the company of family and friends. Make their happiness your happiness, their success your success. Work hard, love your family, and you will be richly rewarded, just as Cornelio was.
Deborah Richmond
Deborah was 45 years old when she passed away. Her death was very sudden and unexpected. She had always been the type person who would help anyone in any way that she could. It is for this reason I knew she would want to be a donor. Even in her death, she would want to help someone else.
She was always full of spirit. She would always be picking or joking around with everyone. She never met a stranger and would strike up a conversation at any time with anyone. She really was a people person. She really loved being with family and friends. Her family was always the most important thing in her life, especially me, her only child. We always based our lives around each other.
My mom loved animals, traveling, and was always up for a new adventure. She had a Chihuahua puppy she loved very much. She collected humming birds and anything I bought her that she could cherish. Mom was very beautiful inside and out. She will always be in my heart and very sadly missed.
However, my family and I are happy that even in our loss we can find comfort knowing that she is still helping someone else by being a donor. We love her and miss her very, very much.
Franklin (Frankie) Ridout
Frankie had many things he enjoyed doing. He had an extreme love for martial arts. He trained hard and had many accomplishments. He was a first-degree black belt in Kenpo and JuJitsu. He held a second-degree black belt in Isshinryu Karate. He passed his love of martial arts to his children by teaching them.
Frankie was quick to give of himself to help others. He was always a daredevil when he was growing up. I used to tease him and call him Evel Knievel.
He was very protective of his sisters. When they started dating, he was the one to ask questions and make sure his sisters would be treated right.
Whenever you called just to talk or if you needed help, he would be there for you. His co-workers told us he always had a smile and was there to help them if needed.
Whenever he needed to do something, he set his mind and worked hard to achieve it, whether it was getting his electrician’s license or learning how to set up security for computers.
We love and miss him. We know that he is still watching out for us, and smiling down upon us.
Meredith Brooke Robinson
Brooke was only 29 years old when she was diagnosed with breast cancer in June 2000. She was also 6 months pregnant with her son, Jeffrey. She began aggressive chemotherapy treatments to shrink the tumors in her breast and to keep the cancer from spreading while she was pregnant. She was also taking medication for epilepsy. She was diagnosed with epilepsy when she was about 5 years old. She had a lot to worry about for her unborn child.
Jeffrey wasn’t due until September, but Brooke was afraid the chemo might cause him damage, so she decided to stop the treatment, against the doctor’s wishes. She asked that labor be induced 6 weeks early. She was wiling to risk her life to make sure she gave birth to a healthy baby.
After Jeffrey was born 8/1/00, she started the chemo again and then had a radical mastectomy in December 2000. She seemed to be in remission but in September 2002, the cancer came back and had started spreading to her liver and lungs. A brain tumor was found as well.
Brooke’s eyes were donated and two people now have sight. She also donated her hair when she started chemotherapy, to an organization that makes wigs for children who have cancer.
She spent her free time taking care of her son and trying to make every minute count. She enjoyed her computer and kept in touch with family and friends via email and chat. She created her own web site and told her story there. She also chatted and corresponded with other women who were going through the same ordeal. Brooke never gave up fighting and always kept a positive attitude and a wonderful sense of humor.
Since she was about 12 years old, Brooke had taken care of her mother who had kidney disease and was on dialysis. Her mother passed away in January 2001, just after Brooke’s mastectomy.
I have never known anyone who was as brave and strong-willed as Brooke – she gave up her own dreams for her mother and her son.
Frank and Efrain Rodriguez
Frank was 24 years old, the older brother to Efrain, 23. They had 1 younger brother, and 2 younger sisters. The two of them didn’t spend much time with each other, but they were very close. Frank was a good person at heart. He loved his family and friends. He had a rough life and was trying to get himself together. He wanted to take his family to Florida and start over.
He loved working on cars and liked driving them. He loved rap music and was fascinated with sneakers. When he saw a pair he liked, he would buy the same ones, but different colors to match his clothes. He loved to draw, and loved playing video games.
Efrain was a very bright person. He was funny and very close with his brothers, sisters, and cousins. He had just graduated in June and had received his Associates Degree in Computer Science. He loved working with computers, but what he really wanted to do was have his own garage, and his oldest brother work on cars while he did body work. He loved rock music and loved having his hair long. He wrote poetry, but rarely let anyone see them. He and his girlfriend had plans, which included getting married, moving to Florida and having 3 children. He was very specific about his plans.
On October 6, 2003, Frank and Efrain were driving back from Florida. They had spent two weeks visiting their father and brothers and sisters. They had an accident in North Carolina. Frank died instantly, and Efrain died later that day. Even though Frank could not be a donor, he did leave part of himself behind – his daughter, Sylis. Efrain was a donor, and I feel blessed because two people were helped by the donation of his corneas.
Jack Stephen Rogers
My husband, Jack, was a happy, positive person who always had a smile on his face. He loved to be around people and enjoyed making others smile and laugh by telling jokes and funny stories. Often I would see him laughing and talking to someone in the grocery store or in a parking lot and I’d ask, assuming he had been talking to an old friend, “Who was that?” and Jack would say, “I don’t know. Someone I just met.”
Jack was not a happy person because he had always had a gifted life. He was happy and positive because he chose to be that way in spite of personal hardships and difficulties. Jack had three rules that he developed as a young boy. These were: Anybody can do it. Every man does what he wants. And, if you don’t get what you want, it’s your own fault.
In our 32 years of marriage Jack never forgot these rules, and often repeated them to others. Even when he lost his business, one of his life’s dreams, he still believed that his rules were sound because he said that he had had a good life, a wonderful marriage that had produced three wonderful sons and two grandchildren, and he had many good friends. Anything else was just icing on the cake.
Because Jack cared so deeply about other people, he made it known to me that upon his death he wanted to donate his eyes, to help others see.
Virginia (Ginny) Clayre Rogers
Virginia (Ginny) Clayre Rogers, 57, died suddenly December 20, 2003, and is survived by her devoted husband, John Rogers, Sr., only child, Robine Kurtz, and a stepson, John Rogers, Jr.
A graduate of Central Methodist College, she earned a bachelors degree and later returned to college to earn an additional associate’s degree in nursing.
Ginny spent much of her life proudly serving as a registered nurse. She spent her early career caring for patients in intensive care units, followed by volunteering her nursing skills around the globe in various burn trauma units.
When the time came for a change she dedicated 16 years to teaching, sharing her knowledge of nursing with hundreds of students. In recent years she worked as an RN for a Home Health Care agency. Always wearing a smile, she was the “go to” woman in both her home and professional lives. A woman of integrity, she was deeply revered by her family and greatly respected by countless others.
In her 57 short years, she courageously battled and won the fight against breast cancer and survived a cerebral aneurysm seven years prior to her death. When not caring for her family, she enjoyed listening to classical music, writing poetry, and looking after her cats, rabbits, chickens and geese.
She would most like friends to remember her as living a rich, full, life, with a passion for her family, and making decisions based on what was the “right” thing to do. An excerpt from a poem she wrote says “come celebrate life, let nothing interfere. Remember what is important, what is so dear. For in reality, we are here but a short time. Let us savor our gift … let our life so shine.”
Harriett D. Roseboro
Harriett – Lula – Hat – Miss Ann – Mama….so many different names for one beautiful woman. She wasn’t perfect, but a 10 in my eyes. Harriett was a woman who never met a person she didn’t touch in some way, good or bad. She loved sports, and her track record at Randolph Junior High remains unbroken.
Harriett had two children, Denise and Edwin (Louis). She raised them with love, and taught them the same values with which she was raised, and the importance of God, church and school.
She will be missed for her thoughtfulness, especially on special occasions, holidays, and family events. Her love of family was so strong. She made a long trip to see her brother, even though her body was weak and she was on oxygen. Maybe she knew that would be the last time she would see him. She had that special love of family.
It is hard to believe she is no longer here with us. But somewhere she is helping make someone else’s life beautiful. I’m glad she was a donor, because she’s giving hope to someone else, so they can see the things she saw.
She was a daughter, sister, granddaughter, mother, niece, cousin, and friend.
Col. (Ret. USA) George Sibley Royal
George Sibley Royal met his wife, Margit Viola Bergstrom in Korea, where she was a nurse with the Swedish Hospital in Pusan. They were married 2/29/52 in Yokohama, Japan, and returned to the Unites States thereafter, where Col. Royal continued his military career.
He received his BA degree in Economics and English from the University of Nebraska and continued his university studies at the University of Washington in Seattle, where he was assigned to a newly formed Officer Candidate Training program and also completed a second BA degree in Economics and Business. He earned his MBA at the University of Pennsylvania School of Business in 1955.
Having served his country with distinction during World War II, the Korean Conflict, and the Viet Nam Conflict, he was awarded the Legion of Merit with two clusters, and the Bronze Star. He completed his career in Washington, DC at the Pentagon, serving variously as Chief of Career Planning (Office of Personnel Division), Chief of the Transportation Corp, and Chief of the Operations Mobility Division with the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He retired from military service on 3/1/72, and shortly thereafter joined The American Mover’s Conference as their Military Liaison. He retired from the AMC in 1985.
Col. Royal and his wife spent his retirement years traveling the United States and Canada in their motor home. He loved the mountains and spaces of the west, was an avid photographer, a country-western and big ban music aficionado, and loved Nebraska football.
He is survived by his daughter, Dr. Margit Elizabeth Royal, his son Dr. George Paul Royal, wife Sharon Sue Royal, two grandsons, one sister, Dr. Pauline Langsley, and three nieces.
His legacy is a love of music, an appreciation of nature, the importance of a job well done, patriotism, and the strength of friendship and family.
John David Christopher Ryan
When I saw Chris the fall of my junior year in college, it was love at first sight. I knew he would be mine. Still to this dayI can tell you exactly what he was wearing when he walked into
the building and our eyes met.
Chris was a devoted father to our boys and a loving husband to me. He coached our boys in baseball and soccer. He loved music and provided entertainment at special events and at the school where I teach. He loved to work on his car, and participate in sports, especially golf.
His passion, though, was his job. He was the Student Activities Director at Methodist College. His love for the students was unconditional. He spent many hours at his coffee house where his organization was located . He provided sound for different groups on campus as well. Chris’ hours were never 8 to 5, or a traditional work week. He spent many hours helping raise funds to take his organization to Key West for Spring Break. His job took him away from us often, but we were also a big part of the students lives as well. Our home was and will continue to beopen to them.
Twelve years ago my brother lost the vision in his right eye in a hunting accident. This was devastating to us, and was one of the few times I ever saw Chris cry. Through the Eye Bank he received a cornea. It was amazing whatsuch a program could offer. We immediately became organ donors.
The night of Chris’ death the Organ Donor Association called. I knew that his eyes would definitely be donated in honor of his brother. I am so thankful that I still have my brother here to help me through this loss.
Chris and I were married exactly fourteen years and three months the day he died. It was unexpected, but I am thankful to know that two people have already benefited from his eyes. I pray that those persons will be blessed with wonderful years with the eyes of a true angel.
I love you, honey, and will continue to look up atthe stars at night as they remind me of the twinkle in your eyes.
Susan
