CityView Magazine

Clifton Neil Blue b. Dec. 21, 1877 d. Feb. 29, 1912 Clifton Neil Blue b. Oct. 12, 1906 d. Feb. 10, 1908 Grace Britton Sikes b. Feb. 27, 1882 d. Sept. 8, 1961 Margaret Blue b. Feb. 2, 1909 d. May 12, 2002 Elizabeth Blue b. Apr. 7, 1911 d. May 19, 1932 Dr. Wade Parker b. Sept. 1, 1903 d. Dec. 31, 1963 Wade Parker, Jr. b. 1934 Clifton Parker b. 1936 Dr. Raymond L Pittman b. Jun. 29, 1888 d. Aug. 1, 1963 Raymond L Pittman, Jr. b. Jul. 6, 1919 d. Aug. 9, 1991 Pittman-Parker Family Tree Sarah Guy b. 1935 d. 2006 Lin Pittman (adopted) Raymond L Pittman, III Jeanette Shaw b. Nov. 26, 1922 Jeanette (Jan) Grace Pittman b. Sept. 7, 1956 They hired a Raleigh architecture firm to study Stone Manor and draft plans for its future as perhaps a city dining club or art gallery, a place where people could entertain guests or business colleagues, even host a wedding. Renderings (shown on Page 53) provide space for an elevator if necessary and a carport and garage that could be transformed into patios or areas for staging and storage. The old servants’ quarters in the basement would be ideal as a wine cellar or manager’s office, too. In fact, the entire property is blooming with possibility. The expansive yard behind the house could become a wedding lawn with a side rose garden for events and parties. Indoors, patrons could dine in the solarium or hold meetings in the large, open rooms upstairs. It seems fitting that these sketches are not that far off from Stone Manor’s early life at 645 Hay St. Perhaps Dr. Pittman, an entrepreneur himself, would approve. And that’s where the story really begins. Dr. Raymond Lupton Pittman was quickly becoming a self-made man when he married Grace Britton Sikes Blue, a recent widow, in 1916. Her first husband, Clifton Blue, died tragically in 1912 as he was rushing back to Fayetteville to visit a doctor about an intestinal ailment. His death left Blue with two young daughters, Margaret and Elizabeth. Together, the Pittmans would have their own child, Raymond Jr., born in 1919. Dr. Pittman had grown up poor in a large family and worked hard for every penny, even as a child, striving for a life among the privileged, and he did just that, earning his medical license and marrying a well-to-do widow. “Dr. Pittman was very business-like, but he was also a very hands-on type of person,” said Lillian Loyd, who worked as his personal assistant from 1940 to 1943. “Along with his success, he had very warm qualities and a delightful sense of humor. He was highly respected in the medical profession and received patient referrals from all over southeastern CityViewNC.com | 53 family

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