North Pitt Class Reunion - June 19th

Memphis, TN

Judson, Beth, Ed and I just returned from a few days in Memphis. While there, we visited Beale Street, the Peabody Hotel, had a tour of the city and went to the zoo.

Dorothy Whitehurst's Great Grandchildren

Brook Manning, Ed's great niece, and her kids at the beach!

Chip Pennington at Cypress Glenn

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Article in the Daily Relector about my first boss at Burroughs Wellcome, Chip Pennington!

Congratulations, Patrick

Patrick Brown and his wife have a new baby boy, Hudson Michael. Patrick worked with me at DIMON in Farmville and came to some of our events at the Lake House. You may remember him as the "crazy guy" who sang Happy Birthday at some of the local restaurants. LOL

North Pitt Teacher Passes Away

Some of you may remember Sgt. Neal from North Pitt High School:

Wiley T. Neal Sgt. First Class, (Retired), US Army, age 71 of 6407 Hwy. 30, Bethel, died Saturday, April 17, 2010. A memorial service will be held today at 11 a.m. at St. Gabriel's Catholic Church, Greenville. He was born in Wilson County to Wiley D. Parker-Neal and Sally I. Isom-Neal. He received his early education in the Nash County Public Schools and completed his College Education at various universities during his military career. Wiley entered the US Army in 1957 at the age of 19 years old. From that day forward, he became the consummate soldier and remained so for the rest of his life. When he first entered the Military, he joined the Paratroopers and completed jump school at Fort Benning, Ga. From Fort Benning, he was reassigned to Fort Bragg for a short period with the 82nd Airborne Division. Wiley was trained as a medic and continued to provide medical care for his fellow soldiers for the remainder of his career. Following a short stay at Fort Bragg, he was reassigned to Germany where he remained until January of 1961. During his tour of duty at Brooke Army Medical Center he was promoted to the enlisted rank of E-6. Wiley again returned to Germany where he was promoted to the enlisted Rank of Sergeant First Class, E-7. Following his tour of duty in Germany he returned to Brooke Army Medical Center for a short period. From Texas Wiley was assigned to Viet Nam for the first of two tours there. Wiley received Purple Hearts for his wounds and received among many other decorations and awards for his acts of valor. Wiley's final assignment was Fort Bragg, Womack Army Medical Center. Wiley served there until his retirement from active Military in 1977. Following his retirement from the Army, Wiley continued to serve his beloved country by teaching young men and women military science through ROTC for the next 30 years. Known by most as Sergeant Neal, he served with distinction until his eventual retirement in 2006. He is survived by his wife of 50 years, Ethel Marie Parker Neal of the home; two sons, Wiley Thomas Neal III and wife, Valerie, of Winterville, and A. Boris Neal of Raleigh; four brothers, Dr. Marvin R. Neal of St. Louis, Mo., Milton T. Neal of Oklahoma City, Okla., Willie Neal and James E. Neal of Sharpsburg; six sisters, Sally Bethea of Greensboro, Evelyn Gray of Rocky Mount, Lillie Rose Edwards and Cynthia Proctor of Wilson, Dorothy Neal of Raleigh, and Mona Faison of High Point; two grandchildren, Catherine Holland Neal and Wiley T. Neal IV of Winterville, NC. In lieu of flowers, please send donations to Wounded Warrior Project, 7020 AC Skinner Pkwy. Suite 100, Jacksonville, FL 32256, c o The Neal Family, Bethel, NC. Funeral services entrusted to Don Brown Funeral Home, Ayden. Send online condolences to http://www.donbrownfuneralhome.com/.
Published in The Daily Reflector on April 22, 2010

Tracy & Jackie Shaw are Grandparents, Again

Brandi, daughter of Tracy and Jackie Shaw, has a baby boy,6 lbs and 15oz. Mom and baby are doing great. Tracy works with Judson at EJE.

Update on Steve Williams

"We met with Steve’s surgeon at UNC on Friday and he will have surgery on Tuesday, April 27th. They are going to build him a new bile duct (awesome).. Several years ago, they couldn’t even do this. This seems to be his only problem and should be good to go after this surgery. His 22% liver is already at about 70% and is almost full size.. This procedure is major surgery and he will be in the hospital for a week. Hopefully we are finally getting there.. Thanks for all your support and concern."

Cindy

NPHS Girls Get Together 4-16-2010

North Pitt High School Girls get together on April 16. Tina Holland Parker (Ed's niece & Myrtle's daughter) in the pink and black top! Looks like they were having a great party!

Update on Farrish's Little Girl

Jessica Update from Adoptive Parents, Bettie & Sam

"Jessie is doing well and growing so fast! It is hard to believe she is already 3 years old. In March, we visited family in Florida and had a wonderful time. Everyone has been so impressed with how Jessie's personality is coming out. She is interacting and talking a lot more now. Jessie loves to greet everyone when she first sees them by saying "Hi" and blowing them kisses. She also babbles a lot and will say "ummm" in between her "sentences" - I think she picked that up from listening to me talk! :) Jessie still loves going to preschool and playing with the kids. She smiles every time we mention the word "school".

Jessie is sitting up pretty well and taking more steps with her walker. She is also doing "commando" crawling more to get around on the floor. We have continued all of her therapies including Physical Therapy 2-3 times per week, Aquatic Therapy once per week, Occupational Therapy once per week, Speech Therapy once per week, Early intervention once per week, and pre-school twice per week. Jessie has a very busy schedule and keeps up busy at home practicing everything with her. She has made some big improvements with using her spoon and fork to eat and drinking from an open cup. We are also doing more sign language with her to help with language development. She enjoys watching the "Signing Time" videos that we check out from the library. Even though she is not signing much herself, she is talking more and seems to understand more of what we say to her.

We had an Easter Egg hunt at our house and played lots of fun games outside. Jessie enjoyed the games and activities, riding her tricycle, and riding in the wagon with her friend Emmie. All of the bigger kids love to hold Jessie and play with her. She is very popular with everyone!"

Bettie, Sam, Sammy, and Jessie

Weekend in Miami

Lindsey (2nd from left) Megan (far right)

Recently, Lindsey Acheson (Beth's daughter) and Megan Hannon (Beth's long-time babysitter and family friend) attended a bachelorette party in Miami for the weekend. Looks like they had a blast!

Latest on Steve Williams

"Steve came home from UNC on Saturday. He is doing good. We will go back to his doctor on Friday for a checkup and to find out when they are going to do surgery to make him a bile duct. Dr. Calvo said his liver has grown tremendously and is doing great.

Steve has a new cell since he lost his at the hospital..It went down the laundry chute!! His number remained the same (919) 631-6211."

Cindy

Relay for Life Luncheon

"Trinity United Methodist Church hosted it's annual Relay For Life Luncheon on April 10, 2010. We had many ladies from lots of places in attendance. "

My cousin, Rebecca Jackson, who lives in Red Springs is pictured in the multicolored top. Thanks for getting involved in such a good cause.

Update on Steve Williams

"Steve will be coming home from UNC on Friday. Dr. Calvo has decided to let him come home and rest and enjoy the next couple of weeks before coming back for the surgery to construct a new bile duct..he wants to build up his body before putting him back into major surgery. This will also give the new temporary drain they put in on Tuesday a few weeks to get rid of any excess bile prior to surgery. This surgery will be very painful and he wants him to enjoy a few weeks without pain before starting over again with recovering." Cindy

Congratulations, Morgan

My cousin's son, Morgan Fleming, is headed to Duke. Congratulations!

Morgan has been accepted to do a Masters of Public Policy/Masters of Environmental Management Dual Degree at DUKE! School starts August 30th :)

Kim Thorne's Family

Kim Thorne's family (Ed's niece & Alma's daughter), who live near Atlanta, enjoy spring break on Lake Lanier! Looks like they're having fun.

Update Last Night from Steve William's Wife, Cindy

"I just got back to the hospital and it looks like Steve may be having some major surgery again. They have finally found the mechanical problem that they have been trying to find for a month. One of the primary bile ducts is enlarged and not functioning like it should to remove bile from the liver. They are going to have to actually make him another path to allow bile to exist the liver. They are building him up this week in preparation to do this type of surgery. If he does well, they are trying to see if they can go ahead and do this surgery as early as next week. Dr Calvo will be in later to discuss and confirm when this will be done. If so, he will be in the hospital for another week after the surgery is performed with a 4 week recovery. This should finally rresolve all the problems he has been having with his jandice and the liver trying to process and rid the bile. Looks like he is in for at least a two week stay if they can do it next week.
Steve has lost his cell phone in the hospital today so I will get him a new one when I am off work on Friday so if you need to talk to Steve, call him on the land line in his hospital room.
Area Code 919 966-2650.
Thanks and keep Steve in your prayers. We are excited that they have finally found the cause and that it is something they can fix."

Cindy

Update on Cousin, Steve Williams

"Steve was admitted to UNC Hospital on Sunday night..He is having problems with an elevated bilirubin and fever..They will be performing vascular surgery again this morning to put in a new drain tube. They have found out that two of his bile ducts are enlarged; therefore not processing the bilirubin as it should..They are hoping that this is something they will be able to fix at some point in time. The new drain should remove the excess fluid and help lower the bilirubin as a temporary measure. He is doing okay overall. He is running a low grade temperature. He will probably be in the hospital for 3-5 days.

His room number is 6235 and his phone number is 919 966-2650 if you’d like to give him a call."
Love ya

Cindy

Happy Birthday, Ed!

Ed had a birthday on Easter Sunday! How cool is that, to be able to celebrate Easter on your birthday.

Join Us for the Pig Picking

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James & Erin on Cruise

James Whitehurst and Erin White recently went on a cruise in the Western Carribean with her family. Here are some pictures:

Windie & Scott Kehn

My great niece, Windie Kehn, and her husband are stationed in South Carolina. They recently attended the 161 Battalion 2010 Dinner.

Farrish & Kevin at the Beach for Easter

Caught quite a few of these sand sharks!

Farrish, Kevin & their boxer, Rocky, at the beach for Easter with her Mom, Leah & Darryl!

Senior Prom

My great, great niece, Ashley Kehn, attends her prom in South Carolina.

Great Pics of Laura's Family (My Great Niece)

Some of you may know Laura Manning and her husband, Mark and daughter, Mackenzie. They live out of town and he is in the marines. Laura is the daughter of Susan and Ken Manning from Bethel. This is also, Ben Manning's sister.