Stephen Womble

1947 - 2021

Stephen Womble
June 2, 1947 - December 28, 2021
Raleigh, North Carolina - Stephen Womble passed away December 28, 2021, at the VA hospital in Durham NC. He was born in Durham, the son of the late Gerald Mederick Womble and Rosalie Micol Womble. He was also preceded in death by his brother, Micol Womble.
He was a veteran of the US Army, volunteering for the draft straight out of high school to serve in Vietnam in 1965 and was an Army medic for the 168th Army Combat Engineer Brigade known as the "Jungle Eaters". He was honorably discharged in 1967.
Stephen was a member of the Carolina Golf Course Association and was a certified Golf Course Superintendent for over 40 years, working at several prestigious golf courses throughout Eastern NC with the most recent being Wildwood Green Golf Club in Raleigh. He got his start in the profession in 1965 as a teenager working part time during the construction of Croasdaile Country Club. After his retirement Stephen was manager of the NC State Faculty Club for six years.
He attended Durham City and Orange County schools and graduated from Orange High School in the class of 1967. He graduated from NC State in 1971and was among the first graduating class with a Turfgrass Management degree.
Stephen had many stories and great memories of his time as a paperboy for the Durham Morning Herald in the late 1950's, serving many of the customers who lived in the old West Durham neighborhood. He also worked at Durham's first McDonalds on Avondale Drive in the early 1960's.
He was a drummer in several bands in his teen years. He started his first band, the Epitones, in 9th grade. Later he was a member of a local band called the Capris that featured beach and top 40 music of the late 1960's.
Stephen was an avid NC State Football fan. He rarely missed a game, loved analyzing the game stats and enjoyed many fun times with his tailgate friends at Carter Finley stadium. For homecoming games he would drive his pride and joy, a classic 1987 Mercedes 560SL, into his parking space, sporting his red NC State sportcoat.
Later in life, he became interested in body building and made great achievements. In 2003 at the age of 59 he won second place in the NPC North Carolina Body Building Competition for men over 50.
Due to Covid-19, the family will have a private graveside service at McMannen United Methodist Church Cemetery with Rev. Donna Banks officiating.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to McMannen United Methodist Church, 4202 Neal Rd., Durham, NC 27705.
The family would like to thank the doctors and staff at the Durham VA and VA Hospice unit for the compassionate care provided to Mr. Womble and the courtesy they showed to the family.
The family is being assisted by Clements Funeral & Cremation Services, Inc. in Durham. Online condolences may be sent to www.clementsfuneralservice.com where a video tribute can also be viewed.