CityView Magazine - Fayetteville, NC
Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/11662
things, but he died before those dreams could be fully realized.” Jeanette Pittman spent more than two decades in Washington, D.C. and worked in the White House for five presidents. She and Raymond divorced, but she took great pleasure in her own activities: golf, volunteering, travel and politics, until her recent retirement to Raleigh. Meanwhile, Mrs. Pittman’s grandsons, Wade Jr. and Clifton, went off to school; Clifton became a commercial airline pilot, while Wade and his family served as missionaries in the Belgian Congo for a time. The Pittmans and Parkers were all heavily involved at First Presbyterian Church, where the chandelier in the chapel is dedicated to Elizabeth Blue Parker. Grace Pittman died Sept. 8, 1961, at the age of 79. Nearly two years later, on Aug. 1, 1963, Dr. R.L. Pittman perished in a single-car accident near Asheville. But perhaps more surprising to the family was Dr. Wade Parker’s death on New Year’s Eve in 1963; he was only 60 years old. After her husband’s death, Margaret Bordeaux Shopping Center Now Leasing Medical and Office Space Next to Cape Fear Valley Medical Center Call Janet for availability at 910.323.0063 www.bordeauxcenter.com 56 | June/July • 2010 Parker continued the tradition of playing bridge and keeping the yard full of fresh flowers. She even received a certificate from the City of Fayetteville in 1992 for her efforts to keep Stone Manor beautiful. She would also host teas and parties for her close friends at Stone Manor. After her death in 2002, her sons, Wade and Clifton, both spent time at the residence until the fixtures and property were auctioned off separately last year. Wade and Clifton are both retired and living in Oregon and Figure Eight Island, respectively. The Pittmans and Parkers are remembered as an extravagant and influential family, but perhaps their lasting legacy to Fayetteville will be Stone Manor. It is my parents’ hope that one day soon it will be used in the same manner of hospitality as those early years, a responsibility they do not treat lightly. “There will never be another dwelling like that in Fayetteville,” said Lillian Loyd. “I think on one hand it would be good for people to see it, but I think it has to be shown correctly.”CV