Lois Stinnett

STINNETT (Byrd), Lois Evelyn

Lois Evelyn (Byrd) Stinnett was born September 20, 1930 in Newport, Arkansas to Rudy Dowell Byrd and Maxie Belle Chaney Byrd, growing up during the Great Depression and WWII.

Excelling in school, Lois became the first in her family to graduate from college, a math major at Hendrix College in Conway, AR. There she met Robert T. Stinnett and they married June 13, 1953 in DC. In a big city for the first time, Lois landed a job at the NSA programming the first IBM computer, though she never told what she did there, asked repeatedly for decades as a long-running joke.

Lois left work to raise a family but continued to use her math skills tutoring students. Because education changed her life she joined PEO, an organization for women's education, remaining over 60 years. She was supportive of kids who needed her help; some not her own called her Mom. Lois rejoined the programming workforce when her family was older and spent years at American Software, including working on a dedicated line at home when they moved to Virginia Beach decades before WFH.

Lois drove until she was 90, played bridge longer, loved her family, golf, and her dogs, especially Caiti, the corgi who saw her through her last years.

She died at home with her family September 17, 2025 in Stone Mountain, Georgia. Lois is survived by her son and daughter, Bob and Karen; her grandchildren, Justine, Kellie and Robert; her great-grandchildren, Axel and Cayson; niece, Chaney; and nephews, Bradley, Randal and Billy. Predeceased by her husband, Bob; her brothers, Richard and Bill Byrd; and by her dogs: Tracks, Susie, Beau, Mac, Caito and Caiti.

A memorial service open to all will be at Park Springs in Stone Mountain, October 25, 2025 1-3 PM. Contributions in her memory may be sent to peointernational.org, Chapter AP\GA