Clara Baity Sparrow

GASTONIA -- Mrs. Clara Baity Sparrow, 99, of 1351 Robinwood Road, died Friday, January 24, 2003 at Covenant Village in Gastonia. A native of Harmony, NC, she was the daughter of the late George Wesley and Sallie Bet Sprinkle Baity. She graduated from Harmony High School and the North Carolina College for Women in Greensboro in the class of 1925. She also attended Columbia University in New York City, where she received a Life Certificate in Teaching. She taught elementary grades in Mt. Airy, then in Gastonia City Schools. She was married to William Robinson Sparrow in 1929. Mrs. Sparrow was a member of First Presbyterian Church, where she served as a Circle Leader, Chairman of the Pastors Aid Committee, and was awarded an Honorary Life Membership by the Women of the Church. She was a founding member of the Gastonia Debutante Club and served in various community projects.
Mrs. Sparrow is survived by a daughter, Anne Sparrow Little and husband Robert Little III of Wadesboro; two granddaughters and spouses, Clarissa "Rissie" and Tommy Bryant of Gastonia and Susan and Gray Hinkle of Winston Salem; and four great grandchildren, Baity Elizabeth Bryant and Thomas York Bryant, both of Charlotte, and Anna Gray Hinkle and Mary Charlotte Hinkle, both of Winston Salem. She was preceded in death by two brothers, Herman Glenn Baity and R. Flake Baity.
A graveside service will be conducted at Gaston Memorial Park on Sunday, January 26th at 2 p.m. by Dr. David Stoker and Reverend Patrick Perryman.
The family will receive friends at Covenant Village following the committal service from 3 to 4 p.m. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to First Presbyterian Church, 1601 Garrison Boulevard, Gastonia, NC 28054, or to Gaston Hospice, P.O. Box 3984, Gastonia, NC 28053-3984.
McLean Funeral Directors of Gastonia are serving the family of Mrs. Sparrow.