Nancy Randolph Lowrey Stipe

Winston-Salem, NC - Mrs. John Wesley Stipe (née Nancy Randolph Lowrey), 82, died October 2, 2010, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. She was born on February 28, 1928, in Bronxville, New York, the daughter of Harvard-educated child psychiatrist Dr. Lawson Gentry Lowrey and his wife, Ella D. Spalding Lowrey. She was the widow of John Wesley Stipe, a naval veteran of World War II who died in 1970. She is survived by six of her seven children, Sea Stipe, Shirley Mote Stipe-Zendle, Sabra Bragg Stipe, Skipper Gentry StipeMaas, Sydnor Stormy Stipe and Shaddock Lowrey Stipe. She is also survived by her children's spouses, as well as her grandchildren Jessica Dawn Stipe, Lowrey Baker Raines, Browning Wesley Raines, Patterson Stipe Raines, Prairie Mattison StipeMaas, Valley Randolph StipeMaas, and Felix Atinkut Pollock-Stipe, her great-grandson David Avery Olson and her beloved dog Dottie. Mrs. Stipe is preceded in death by her son John Wesley Stipe, Jr. (called Pegboard), who died in 1959. Mrs. Stipe was educated in New York and, before moving to the Stipe family farm in 1957, worked alongside her husband, a photojournalist, in the newspaper business, and in several hospitals, including Barnes Hospital in St. Louis, Missouri. From 1957, Mrs. Stipe lived on the Stipe family farm, called Rebel Ranch, in Dixie, Georgia. She was a tireless volunteer in her community and was very concerned with the fair treatment and welfare of others. After her husband's death, she managed the Stipe farm for over thirty years, and preserved the photographic works of her husband, John Wesley Stipe, many of which are now housed at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC. She was an accomplished photographer herself. She also wrote newspaper articles, portraits of neighbors and friends, and her own memoirs, stories and reflections, and maintained a rich and meaningful correspondence with her many friends and relatives across the country. Mrs. Stipe loved the land on which she and her family lived and was grateful to the many friends and neighbors who helped her raise her children. She valued learning, nature, literature, spirituality, and relationships with others. She was a remarkable teller of stories, and enjoyed humor and life's ironies. A celebration of Mrs. Stipe's life is scheduled for 3:00 p.m., Saturday, October 9, at the Mt. Moriah Church on Mount Moriah/Hickory Head Road. Following the funeral there will be a graveside service at the Dixie Cemetery. In lieu of flowers friends and family are encouraged to consider donating to Arts, Inc., which is a cultural arts program that provides free lessons for children in performance arts in South Georgia (Arts, Inc, c/o Laura Holland, Treasurer, 1203 Thompson Rd,Quitman,GA 31643). The Stevens-McGhee Funeral Home in Quitman, Georgia, is handling arrangements.