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    "result": {"data":{"allStrapiArticle":{"edges":[{"node":{"id":"2c4ecd3c-6da6-586a-9990-d8d4b6869d4e","slug":"article-654","name":"John Kolacz","content":{"data":{"content":""}},"city":"Raleigh","county":"Wake","state":"North Carolina","deathdate":"05/03/2025","age":56,"user_updated":false,"image":null}},{"node":{"id":"0ed51493-57db-5362-9de8-5c314c0f33ae","slug":"article-661","name":"Cathy Odell Elmore","content":{"data":{"content":"Cathy was a good wife and mother. She had a very kind and tender heart. She loved animals, gardening, flowers and plants. Most of all Cathy loved the beach. l believe that was Cathy's favorite place in this world. She was always helping those in need or less fortunate. I lieu of flowers or plants. Cathy requested to have donations made in her memory to any of the following organizations. Cause For Paws, Wake County Animal Shelter or Wake County SPCA. Cathy is greatly missed by her son and I. Along with all her family and friends. Now she is resting in peace with her Lord and Savior Christ Jesus. Fare the well my love. \nAndy, Jonathan, our families and friends."}},"city":"Raleigh","county":"Wake","state":"North Carolina","deathdate":"05/03/2025","age":66,"user_updated":true,"image":{"localFile":{"publicURL":"/static/471b1eaa857faa97fad1a5372a152839/object_Object_d4690d6286.jpeg"}}}},{"node":{"id":"dd41ec78-90e5-5256-b0b2-b677211fd0ad","slug":"2025-05-02-David-McAllister","name":"David McAllister","content":{"data":{"content":""}},"city":"Cary","county":"Wake","state":"North Carolina","deathdate":"05/02/2025","age":83,"user_updated":false,"image":null}},{"node":{"id":"2e65eeaf-cf3e-5976-a3ce-5a5a1c9dadcb","slug":"1900-01-01-Donald-Usevich","name":"Donald Usevich","content":{"data":{"content":"Loving brother and father of three.\nYou had a very hard life , God noticed your pain and called you home."}},"city":"Raleigh","county":"Wake","state":"North Carolina","deathdate":"05/02/2025","age":52,"user_updated":true,"image":{"localFile":{"publicURL":"/static/f83de2dd31afe31a4bd21b44f079853f/object_Object_b051feb767.jpeg"}}}},{"node":{"id":"fbcb38ef-68d0-50c1-935f-4bad25320c41","slug":"2025-05-02-Patricia-Stange","name":"Patricia Stange","content":{"data":{"content":"Patricia A. Stange passed away peacefully in Hospice on Friday, May 2, 2025. Originally from Brooklyn, NY, Pat worked for many years at Brooklyn College prior to moving to North Carolina in 2005 to be with her family.\nPat was preceded in death by her parents, Joseph and Elizabeth McKeon and her sister, Joan Pisano.\nPat is survived by her son Joe (Susan) Stange, granddaughters, Kelly Stange, Kayla (Patrick) Stange-Bacher. Brothers, Daniel (Harriet) McKeon, Dennis McKeon,  Sister, Maryellen McKeon.\nService will be held at St. Francis of Assissi Church in Raleigh, NC on Friday, May 9, 2025 at 10:45am. Interment will follow the service at the St. Francis Columbarium."}},"city":"Raleigh","county":"Wake","state":"North Carolina","deathdate":"05/02/2025","age":84,"user_updated":true,"image":null}},{"node":{"id":"81171f6d-cf24-547f-b873-68c572439a15","slug":"article-652","name":"Victoria Patino","content":{"data":{"content":"Geraldine Victoria Patino (nee Nelson) \"Vicki\" passed away peacefully in Raleigh, NC on May 1st, 2025. Vicki was born in Charlotte, NC and attended school in Montclair and Mountain Lakes, NJ. Vicki married her high school sweetheart Luis Patino Nieto in 1967. Luis's corporate career took them to Bogota, Colombia, NYC, and later Washington DC. Vicki enjoyed accompanying Luis to social functions, one of which was the inauguration of former President Bush and dining at the White House. Their time was also spent in Mexico, the Virgin Islands, Argentina, and Canada. \n\nVicki was a talented artist and after graduating the Kimberly School in Montclair, NJ, her design portfolio won her a full scholarship to the Rhode Island School of Design. Vicki, a humanitarian at heart, chose to study nursing but continued artistic pursuits throughout her life while working as a bilingual translator. She was honored when NYC Major Koch complimented her editorial translations for Noticias Del Mundo. \n\nVicki explored many areas of art and marketed custom designs for children in Bogota and designed for a US-based stitchery company. In retirement, she returned home to NC and delved into jewelry design, successfully marketing beautifully crafted bracelets. Having an aptitude for social media, Vicki created a Facebook account for the family cat, Sylvester, that attracted over 17,000 followers; even writing a comical critique voiced by Sylvester's protege, Kori, which was published by a charitable organization in support of cancer research. Family was important to Vicki and genealogy became a favorite pastime. \n\nVicki's love of animals was expressed in her art and in her support of animal welfare. She regularly rescued and rehabilitated orphaned wildlife who often became the subject of her annual Christmas Story, written as a gift for friends and family. Her love of holidays and her talents for decorating and creating crafted gifts will be well remembered. Her engaging personality could light up a room and she had the unique ability to find humor during even the most difficult of times.\n\nVicki was a thoughtful friend, a talented artist, and a devoted wife and mother of 3 children. She is survived by her husband of 58 years, Luis; daughters Veronica Patino of Raleigh, NC and Cristina (Joshua) Charles of Red Hook, NY; grandsons Noah and Sascha Charles; her sister Patricia Provost of Unity, NH; and niece Lauren (Christopher) Garrecht of Unity, NH. Her son, Luis Eduardo (1971-1972) predeceased her. "}},"city":"Raleigh","county":"Wake","state":"North Carolina","deathdate":"05/01/2025","age":76,"user_updated":true,"image":{"localFile":{"publicURL":"/static/b559a74a38d6e02fbd40b8e67d3d7315/Screenshot_20250502_173049_Chrome_d29dc56218.jpg"}}}},{"node":{"id":"024ce9a8-ee2b-520f-932a-cb288bd51ebc","slug":"article-651","name":"Elizabeth (Liz) M.  Wilson","content":{"data":{"content":"Elizabeth (Liz) Wilson passed away on May 1, 2025 at Wake Medical Center ER, Raleigh, NC.  \n\nBorn April 29, 1929 in Millport, PA, she was a daughter of John and Irene Rathbun.\nLiz was a graduate of Otto Junior-Senior High School, Duke Center PA, class of 1947.\nShe married Richard (Dick) Wilson of Bolivar, NY on October 25, 1947.\n\nLiz loved to dance and had a wonderful sense of humor and a very recognizable laugh. Her and Dick did much traveling around the US and Canada visiting their many friends and widely dispersed family. Affectionately called ‘Silly Grandma’ by many of her great grandchildren, she truly enjoyed family, friends, and any baby.  She had recently moved from Arcadia, FL where she had many very dear friends, to Raleigh, NC.\n\nSurviving are her son Daniel L. (Marti) Wilson of Raleigh, NC, with whom she lived, and daughter Terri D.  (Wim) Vanderkooy of Toronto, Ont. Canada, as well as 3 grandchildren, 6 great grandchildren and one great great grandson, and numerous nieces and nephews of several generations.\n\nLiz was predeceased by Dick, her husband of 67 years, a daughter Marcia L Bevins, and her sisters Joan Guinnip, and Susie Allen.\n\nLiz’s ashes will be taken by her family, to East Sharon Cemetery, Shinglehouse, PA, where she will be buried with her husband."}},"city":"Raleigh","county":"Wake","state":"North Carolina","deathdate":"05/01/2025","age":96,"user_updated":true,"image":{"localFile":{"publicURL":"/static/9ea97e112df728a83b9d7b5a88ae22f1/object_Object_2345f52632.jpeg"}}}},{"node":{"id":"ef62e409-0c52-596e-a7a1-55770515154a","slug":"2025-05-01-Gretell-King","name":"Gretell Gloria King","content":{"data":{"content":"Gretell Gloria King was born on April 20th, 1929, in the village of Trinityville, in the parish of St. Thomas, Jamaica in the West Indies. She was the sixth of 10 children, born to Henry Chung, an immigrant from Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, China, and Beryl Daley, from Great Bay in the parish of St. Elizabeth, Jamaica. \n\nShe was predeceased by 8 of her siblings: Luna Downie, Cecil Chung, Sidney Chung, Neville Chung, Garfield Chung, Vincent Chung, Causwell Chung and Noel Chung. Her surviving sister, Carmel Thibault, lives in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. \n\nGloria was an active child keeping up with her brothers who enjoyed catching fish by hand in the local creek. At the age of 12 a local plantation owner, Major Cause, arranged for her to apply for a government high school scholarship. There were only two scholarships for each parish, and Gloria was successful in being awarded one of the two scholarships available for students in St. Thomas. She attended St. Andrews Presbyterian High School for Girls in Kingston, and there she studied hard and learned many of life’s lessons. She told how nervous she was when the other girls in her dormitory would stone the mango tree in the school and arrange an illicit mango party after \"lights-out\". She knew if they got caught, she would lose her scholarship!!  \n\nIn 1945 she passed her University of Cambridge School Certificate examination achieving a \"Very High\" standard in English literature and religious knowledge. After two extra years in the senior class she obtained her University of Cambridge Higher School Certificate with passes in botany, zoology, Latin and history! This enabled her in 1948 to travel to London, England to be the first Jamaican nursing student to complete the four-year nursing certificate at St. Bartholomew’s Hospital. Barts is the oldest hospital in the world still in operation having been founded by Rahere in the year 1123!! \n\nOnce Gloria obtained her nursing certificate from Barts in 1954 she completed midwifery training and obtained her gynecological nursing certificate at the Queen Charlotte and Chelsea Hospital in London, England. Over the years she has remained in touch with the very first baby she delivered at the Mill Road Maternity Hospital in Cambridge, and that baby is now 70 years old living in Great Abington, Cambridgeshire, England. \n\nHer first marriage to Noel St. John from Barbados during her days as a student produced a daughter Anne, who was raised by her paternal grandparents in Barbados. Dr. Anne St. John, MD, is a currently a pediatrician and privy counsellor in Barbados. From time to time, Gloria used to visit Barbados to stay with her daughter and meet other members of the St. John family.\n\nAfter her nursing and midwifery training in England, Gloria had a wide range of career experiences. In 1956 she was a registered nurse in Jamaica and in Barbados, working at the General Hospital there. For two years she was employed by the Italian Grimaldi Siosa shipping line to be the children’s nurse on the Ascania and Irpinia ships which carried immigrants and their families between the Caribbean and Europe. \n\nGloria also pursued nursing internships in the United States and worked at St Joseph's Hospital in Portland, Oregon, at Orange Memorial Hospital in New Jersey, and at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland. She recalled her surprise as a Jamaican in finding in the 1960's that the adult patients in the Baltimore hospital were segregated into black and white wards, although segregation did not apply to her work on the pediatric ward. \nUnable to continue her residence in the USA, in 1966 Gloria made the decision to move to Canada and was employed at Kingston General Hospital in Ontario, as Head Nurse on the Surgical Floor. The hospital agreed that she should take a \"Hospital Nursing Service\" certificate program at the University of Toronto, which she completed in June 1966. \n\nOn the weekends during the summer Gloria and her Jamaican friends would attend the Kingston Cricket Club for their weekly matches in Kingston and Ottawa, Ontario. This is where she met, Martin King, a cricketer from England and an engineer working at the local polyester fiber plant at Millhaven, Ontario. Martin King became Gloria's second husband. They were married in the Queens University chapel in Kingston, Ontario on April 20th, 1968, and travelled to Bermuda for their honeymoon!!  In 2018 they celebrated 50 years of marriage by returning to Bermuda for a holiday together. This time they did not take a flight from Montreal, they took a cruise ship from Norfolk, Virginia, and were able to enjoy a week's cruise as well as a visit to their previous haunts and old friends in Bermuda. \n\nLater in 1968 Martin resigned from Millhaven Fibers to work for the Ministry of Technology in England and pursue further graduate studies at the Manchester Institute of Science & Technology. Gloria was appointed as Head Nurse of a new Kidney Dialysis Unit at Withington Hospital, Manchester where the building of sterile dialysis machines for individual patients was a continuous challenge. In April 1971 Gloria gave birth to a son Andrew “Andy” King, and in the following year the family moved to Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada where Martin was appointed as an assistant professor at the University of Manitoba. \n\nIn Winnipeg, Gloria worked initially part-time on the surgical wing at Victoria Hospital, but then was appointed full-time Unit Manager and Clinical Resource Nurse in the adult rehabilitation unit at the Riverview Health Centre, a community hospital in the City of Winnipeg. She enjoyed working in the rehabilitation unit for long hours because she explained that this was not palliative care. Invariably each patient led to a positive outcome and happy discharge.  \n\nHer commitment to work was evident. One very snowy day in the middle of winter in Winnipeg the buses and all traffic had stopped as the roads were covered with over a foot of snow. How was she going to drive to work? That was impossible!! So, she called the City of Winnipeg and told them to send a snow plough to our home so she could go to work. I will never forget seeing her climb up into the cab of the snow plough that day and off she went to work under impossible conditions!! \n\nDuring this period our son Andy enjoyed growing up playing hockey in the winter and soccer in the summer. He attended a French immersion program from Grade 1 onwards and completed his international baccalaureate diploma program while in high school in Winnipeg. In her spare time Gloria, who was a proficient knitter, volunteered her time at the local community center to teach knitting and to promote literacy. \n\nWhile living and working in Winnipeg, Canada, Gloria kept in touch with her family in Jamaica and between 1978 and 1993 she invited three of her nieces, Annette Cheong, Jackie Spence and Elizabeth (Liz) Chong to come and live with us in Canada while they studied at the local universities. This required a lot of adjustment to survive the long and cold winters in Winnipeg, but they completed their studies, established Canadian friendships and advanced their careers. Annette and Jackie are mothers, have families, work long hours and have moved their families from Jamaica to Florida. Liz, who was a keen soccer player, was selected to play for the Manitoba provincial women's soccer team at the Canada Games in 1993 and on returning to Jamaica played on the Jamaican \"Reggae Girls\" World Cup soccer team during the preliminary rounds in 1994. So Gloria's love, encouragement, support and family commitment has extended into many fields of endeavor in different locations around the globe.  \n\nIn the year 2000 Martin accepted a faculty position at North Carolina State University, and so he and Gloria moved from Winnipeg to Raleigh, and Gloria no longer continued her nursing practice. She enjoyed being an activity volunteer at Springmoor Retirement Community when she lived nearby on Sawmill Road, Raleigh. In addition, she volunteered at NC State University to teach cooking, knitting and English language skills to the partners and families of international students who were studying at the university.  \n\nGloria was highly dedicated to Martin, her husband, and Andy, her son who for over two decades has lived near Paris, France. She was a meticulous homemaker; she maintained an immaculate home, followed daily routines, and could prepare many delicious dishes given her early experience with both Jamaican and Chinese cooking.\n\nGloria has one grandson André, who lives in New York, and in February 2022, she and Martin became the proud grandparents of twins, Cassandra and Julian, who live with their parents, Andy and Frida, near Paris, France. \n\nGloria also maintained an admirable reputation of being highly committed to her siblings and having a great love for the extended family of numerous nephews and nieces residing across the globe. She will be remembered for her unforgettable generosity for giving gifts especially at Christmas time. Members of her family in China remember the strength, love, generosity and resilience Gloria always showed to find them, visit them and greet them in Shenzhen. They say that the \"Zhang family love cannot be separated, no matter how far it has to travel around the world\". \n\nGloria as the global traveler, accompanied her husband Martin on numerous trips to England, Mexico, France, Poland, Turkey, India, Hong Kong, Australia and the People’s Republic of China, where he has served as an adjunct professor advising graduate students and teaching summer school at Donghua University, Shanghai for 20 years. \n\nBack in the 1920's before Gloria was born, her father sent his first two Jamaican born sons, Cecil Chung and Sidney Chung, when they were less than 10 years old, to live with their uncle in Shenzhen, China. With the Japanese invasion and subsequent civil war in China contact with these two brothers was lost. It was only in 1983 that contact with the family was reestablished and Gloria learnt that her oldest brother Cecil Chung (张水思) was a soldier in the Chinese Communist Party army and was captured by Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalist army where he was tortured and lost his life. He is now remembered in Shenzhen as a \"National Hero\". The second brother, Sidney Chung (张慎理) married and had six children. Gloria visited Shenzhen in June 2012 to meet with her many Chung (Zhang) family relatives. It proved to be an epiphany. Since that time, Gloria has visited her family in Shenzhen many times between 2013 and 2019.  \n\nHer 90th birthday celebration, was a major undertaking organized by her son, Andy, and family members in Florida. The 2019 gathering in Pembroke Pines, Florida, included over 40 family members who travelled from New York City, San Jose, California, Canada, Jamaica, France and Barbados, to share in fellowship, good food & family home visits. \n\nDuring the past 5 years, Gloria experienced a loss in physical mobility and an ability to communicate due to arthritis, peripheral neuropathy and dementia. Being confined to a wheelchair, had a negative impact on her quality of life, rendering her more and more dependent on others in her day-to-day life. So, it is appropriate at this time to express sincere thanks to all the friends, family, physicians, nurses and caretakers who have given her dedicated support and empathy to keep her comfortable as she transitions to the next life.  "}},"city":"Raleigh","county":"Wake","state":"North Carolina","deathdate":"05/01/2025","age":96,"user_updated":true,"image":{"localFile":{"publicURL":"/static/bf17c10373eaadd42f66ad7c4bb34438/Gretell_King_1221f4f3f4.JPG"}}}},{"node":{"id":"2b341484-b4ec-5cf8-a1e2-1cbfbfab8d4e","slug":"article-746","name":"John Thomas Sperring, Jr.","content":{"data":{"content":"John Thomas Sperring, Jr., 83.  Beloved husband, dad, grandpa, great grandpa, son, brother, uncle passed away peacefully at home on May 1, 2025.  He was a proud veteran of the United States Navy and often reminisced about his time on the USS Independence (CVA-62) and the many places he visited during his service.  Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, he and Eileen moved to Indianapolis, Indiana in 1962 and raised their family.  After a dedicated 30-year career at Ford Motor Company, they relocated to Florida and eventually settled in Clayton, North Carolina for the last eight years.  John never knew a stranger, making friends with everyone he encountered and maintained lifelong connections with many.  His interment will take place on Monday, September 29 at 2pm at the Florida National Cemetery in Bushnell, Florida.  He is survived by his wife of 62 years Eileen, daughter Carlene Perry (Ken), sons John Sperring, III (Donna), and Jeff Sperring (Julie), 6 grandchildren (whom he had a nickname for each of them), 9 great grandchildren, 2 brothers James Sperring & Harry Sperring, several nieces and nephews.  He was preceded in death by both parents John & Thelma Sperring, Sr., his sister Janice Tilka and a great granddaughter Kynsleigh.  He will be deeply missed and was loved by all who knew him.\n\n“What we once enjoyed and deeply loved we can never lose, for all that we love deeply becomes part of us.” — Helen Keller"}},"city":"Clayton","county":"Johnston","state":"North Carolina","deathdate":"05/01/2025","age":83,"user_updated":true,"image":{"localFile":{"publicURL":"/static/f65f8b1eac778a69f433493b5791bf35/object_Object_ebc4a13e1a.jpeg"}}}},{"node":{"id":"31021b0f-0d88-5ef6-928d-c56412efb3c2","slug":"article-650","name":"John Walter Rice","content":{"data":{"content":"It’s difficult to write an obituary for someone when nurses keep coming into the hospital room to say how sorry they are, how great John is, and how hard this all has been. And it has been. John Walter Rice is a difficult man to boil down into a few sentences. You would leave out a number of bad jokes, a thousand and one eye rolls, and his endless desire to fix things and make everything right for those he cared for. \n\nBOI (born on the Island) on Galveston Island, Texas on January 5, 1962 to Catherine Conlon (Townsend) and John E. Rice, John never really truly left that island. He knew the stories behind every nook and cranny of that place. John found his life-long passion for all things film, video, and photography related at the Galveston Arts Center, a passion that took him to the University of Texas at Austin where he “focused” his eye (photography pun!) on the camera. John was an adept photographer and took what has to have added up to thousands of gorgeous black and white photos since then. After getting a degree in Television Production, John’s career took him to Victoria, Texas, where he met the love of his life, Laura. Laura forgot to put this in the initial draft, but they actually overlapped a bit at Austin and even ended up at some of the same concerts, but they didn’t know it at the time. Kismet. \n\nJohn and Laura settled in Houston where John worked for KHOU and they began their family. John adored his children Michael, Lucy, Emma, and James, sometimes to their great annoyance. In 2006, his career then took the family to Charlotte, NC where he worked at WCNC and eventually WBTV. If you ever saw a billboard, a bus ad, or a TV spot advertising the news programs at any of those stations, that was John. In 2016, most of the family began a brief two-year stint in Anchorage, AK followed by a return to North Carolina where John then worked at the CBS 17 station in Raleigh and ended his career working in advertising.\n\nJohn was an active parent. In Houston, he was a Scout Leader and basketball coach for Michael at St. Anne’s Catholic Church, and he would take Michael and his daughters Emma and Lucy to the Kolache Factory on Friday mornings for cinnamon rolls and those delightful Czech pastries before dropping them off for school. There was a long running dream/joke after the family moved to Charlotte that John would eventually open a Kolache Factory of his own, hopefully to provide other families their own little Friday morning treats as well. John shared his adoration of basketball and eclectic musical interest with Michael, helped Lucy with her science projects and International Day dioramas, passed his artistic skills and refined eye on to Emma, and finally got one of his kids to go to film school with James.\n\nIn Charlotte, John was an active member of St. Gabriel’s Men’s Club, assisted with Room In the Inn, was a Confirmation teacher, and continued assisting with Scouts along with his son James.  John was an avid cycler and participant with 24 Hours of Booty and rode for the V Foundation in Raleigh. You could spot him easily in his riding gear with the rainbow he had affixed to his white helmet in commemoration of those who had passed on and who he made sure to ride for every year.\n\nJohn loved to take his hand-made, emerald green canoe to the Robertson Mill Pond, drink a Shiner Bock on the back patio, to play poker on Sunday nights, and to ring that damn bell in the backyard. One of many Craigslist prizes that would inevitably make his family’s eyes roll, but you can be sure they rang it a few times the day he passed, too. He loved his kids, he loved to solve problems for others, he loved music by John Prine, and he loved Laura.\n\n John is survived by his parents Cathy and John, his brothers Tom and Jason, his sister Beverly, his children Michael, Lucy, Emma, and James, and his wife Laura. These few sentences absolutely do not suffice in describing all that John was and is for those that love him, but they will have to do. An immense and heartfelt thank you to all those who came to say goodbye as we wrote this, and to all the other nurses, doctors, and staff at UNC Rex Hospital, particularly those in the MSICU. In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to the 24 Foundation, Share Our Strength, the Galveston Arts Center, or the Boys and Girls Club of Wake County."}},"city":"Raleigh","county":"Wake","state":"North Carolina","deathdate":"04/30/2025","age":63,"user_updated":true,"image":{"localFile":{"publicURL":"/static/2eff46e75b945aa67c6ad8d9968379d8/object_Object_50ec1bd302.jpeg"}}}},{"node":{"id":"543783e2-2428-5738-9cbc-4648bc898073","slug":"2025-04-29-Benedict-Snyder","name":"Benedict  Snyder","content":{"data":{"content":""}},"city":"Sanford","county":"Lee","state":"North Carolina","deathdate":"04/29/2025","age":76,"user_updated":false,"image":null}},{"node":{"id":"4ed26f0c-eb0e-543b-99bd-ceec8b43c62e","slug":"article-648","name":"Robert Easterling","content":{"data":{"content":"ROBERT GENE EASTERLING\nRobert Easterling, formerly of Albuquerque, NM and Guthrie, OK passed away April 29, 2025, in Cary, NC.  He was born in Waukegan, IL on September 25, 1942.  He was known for his love of family, as a faithful Christian and church member wherever he resided, and for his commitment to giving to help others.  \n\nRobert was the valedictorian at Tonkawa (OK) High School in 1960.  Following bachelor’s and master’s degrees at Oklahoma State University, he graduated from OSU with a Ph.D. in statistics.  At a summer job he met Judy Cross, and they married in 1965.  In 1967, he and Judy moved to Albuquerque, NM when he joined the statistics group at Sandia National Laboratories.  Professional highlights included an assignment as the Editor of the journal Technometrics, being elected a Fellow of the American Statistical Association, and serving as a member of two National Research Council panels for the National Academy of Sciences.\n\nAfter his retirement from Sandia in 2001, he taught introductory statistics courses at the University of Michigan, the University of Auckland, McMurry University, and the Naval Postgraduate School. Motivated by this experience, he authored a book, Fundamentals of Statistical Experimental Design and Analysis, published in 2015.\n\nRobert would never miss his son’s soccer games.  A huge New Mexico Lobos’ fan, he was the 10 millionth fan at The Pit.  He enjoyed traveling, especially the back roads of America in the RV with Susie.  Membership at St. John’s United Methodist Church for over 50 years was central to his spiritual and church family life.  Interests included bluegrass music, his 1964 Ford Fairlane, fish tacos, and the histories of New Mexico and Oklahoma.\n\nRobert is survived by his sons Mike (spouse Karen) and Jeff; his brother Lael Easterling (Katherine), sister Connie Easterling Collins (Tom) and sister Verla Easterling Raines Cline (Mike).  Robert married Susie Hinkle in 1999.  She passed in 2019, and Rob loved her adult children like his own: Jeff Hinkle (Valerie), Mandi Venable (Paul), Matt Hinkle (Suzy), and Heidi Vargas (Joey).  Grandchildren: Jason Easterling, Malia Easterling, Macy Easterling, Matthew Kaltenbaugh, Tony Hinkle, Kaci Bill, Andrew Hinkle, Landon Vargas, Julian Vargas.  Great-grandchildren: Evelyn Bill, Emilia Bill, Lily Hinkle, Grayden Hinkle.\n\nRobert is preceded in death by wife Judy Cross Easterling, wife Susie Hinkle Easterling, father Verlin Easterling, mother Bonnie Bennett Easterling and infant son Mark (b.1969-’69 dec.).\n\nDementia took a lot from Robert.  But he never lost his sense of humor, his joy attending church, or his desire to help others.  And until the end he was still planning his next road trip.\n\nFavorite Bible verses:\n\n“For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to devote ourselves to the good deeds for which God has designed us.” Ephesians 2:10\n\n“I lift up my eyes to the hills.  Where does my help come from?  It comes from The Lord, maker of heaven and earth.”  Psalm 121:1-4\n\n\nServices are being planned for Albuquerque, NM May 17 and Guthrie, OK May 31."}},"city":"Cary","county":"Wake","state":"North Carolina","deathdate":"04/29/2025","age":82,"user_updated":true,"image":{"localFile":{"publicURL":"/static/03a0d2ac704e57ef32c5636e6abf0b24/object_Object_7c9b44f773.jpeg"}}}}]}},"pageContext":{"limit":12,"skip":852,"numPages":316,"currentPage":72,"numObits":3790,"featured":false}},
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