As your daily local news source, 97.9 The Hill and Chapelboro.com is also a place to share what’s important. Obituaries, births, weddings, engagements — if you would like to share it with our community, we’d be happy to help. If you’d like to submit an entry for this page, you can find our submissions form here, and by clicking the button below. Please — no press releases, event listings or promotions.
OBITUARIES
Randall Kenan Dies: Author Depicted Black, Gay Life in Prose
Randall Kenan, an author whose stories explored the experience of being Black and gay in the American South, has died. He was 57. The University of North Carolina, where Kenan taught as an English professor, confirmed his death on Saturday. A cause was not immediately...
Renowned Author and Chapel Hill Resident Elizabeth Spencer Dies at 98
Elizabeth Spencer, a grande dame of Southern literature who bravely navigated between the Jim Crow past and open-ended present in her novels and stories including the celebrated novella “Light In the Piazza,” has died at 98. Spencer, who sometimes went by her married...
Memorial for Longtime East Chapel Hill High Principal Planned for Saturday
A memorial service is scheduled for Saturday to remember the life of a longtime East Chapel Hill High School principal who recently died. Dave Thaden began his career in Chapel Hill – Carrboro City Schools as an English teacher at Guy B. Phillips Junior High School...
Former Orange County Sheriff Remembered for Revitalizing Department
Editor's Note: Beth Velliquette was a longtime reporter for the Herald-Sun who wrote this piece for the family of Lindy Pendergrass. Pendergrass died earlier this month. He served as Orange County Sheriff for more than 30 years before retiring in 2014. This post is...
Former Orange County Sheriff Dies
Former Orange County Sheriff Lindy Pendergrass has died. The sheriff's office posted a message about Pendergrass' death on the office's Facebook page. Pendergrass was sheriff in Orange County for more than 30 years before retiring in 2014. Sunday's message from the...
Former Chapel Hill Town Council Member Lee Pavao Dies
Former Chapel Hill Town Council member Lee Pavao has died, according to his family. Pavao was an advertising executive who retired to Chapel Hill in 1988. He went on to serve two terms on the Chapel Hill Town Council and ran unsuccessfully for mayor in 2001. Pavao...
Maple View Farm Mourning Death of ‘Farmer Bob’
Maple View Farm Ice Cream co-founder Bob Nutter has died. “Farmer Bob” as he was lovingly called died on Friday, his obituary said. The Nutter family moved its farming operation from Maine to Hillsborough in 1963 and has grown into a local staple with Maple View Farm...
Former UNC School of Medicine Dean Dies
Dr. Stuart Bondurant, who served as the dean of the UNC School of Medicine for 15 years, died on Saturday, May 26. Bondurant’s obituary said his death came after a brief illness. Bondurant served as the dean of the Medical School from 1979 to 1994, according to the...
Chapel Hill Restaurant Legend ‘Mama Dip’ Dies
Mildred Council, better known across Chapel Hill and North Carolina as Mama Dip, died on Sunday, community members confirmed to WCHL Monday morning. WRAL first reported Council's death on Monday citing her daughter. Council was a legend in the restaurant community in...
John Ehle, Writer, Founder of UNC School of the Arts Dies
John Ehle, an award-winning writer who helped develop what is now the UNC School of the Arts, has died. He was 92. A statement from school Chancellor Lindsay Bierman said Ehle died Saturday at his Winston-Salem home with his wife, actress Rosemary Harris, and daughter...
