Sheila Ann Cleary Stovall, 64, of Rockingham, passed away Friday, Aug. 31, 2012, at home, surrounded by her five children, their spouses, her sister and loving husband of 44 years.
The family will receive friends from 6 to 8 p.m. Friday, Sept. 7, at Watson-King Funeral Home, in Hamlet. A funeral Mass will be conducted at 11 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 8, at St. James Catholic Church, in Hamlet.
Sheila was born Feb. 29, 1948, in Washington, D.C., to the late Francis Xavier and Marguerite Boscoe Cleary, of Silver Spring Md. She graduated from Regina High School in Hyattsville, Md., in 1966, and was employed at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, where she met a patient who would become her husband, Wilbur “Bud” C. Stovall III. She spent the next 16 years as an Army wife, living around the world while raising her children.
Sheila was a lifelong musician who composed and performed liturgical, folk, country and children’s music. She had been a member of St. James Catholic Church in Hamlet since 1984, where she served as a CCD and RCIA teacher and choir director. She retired from Kingswood Nursing Center in Aberdeen after serving as the Alzheimer’s Unit Coordinator, and was previously employed at Meadowbrook Manor in Rockingham as the activity director.
Sheila loved music, reading, writing poetry, traveling, bird watching and helping others, and was devoted to her faith.
In addition to her parents, she was predeceased by her older brother, Francis Cleary Jr. and his wife, Peggy. She is survived by her husband, Wilbur Stovall III, of the home; daughters, Jennifer Stovall, of Raleigh; Bonnie Spencer (Blake), of Wendell; sons, Wilbur Stovall IV, of Rockingham, Christopher Stovall (Christy Cain), of Rockingham, and Thomas Stovall (Amy), of Hope Mills; one sister, Kathleen Bergling (Kenneth), of Clements Md.; and eight grandchildren.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the St. James Catholic Church Hymnal Fund. Online condolences may be made at www.watson-kingfuneral home.com.
Watson-King Funeral Home of Hamlet is serving the family.
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