Local
6A / Tuesday, May 25, 2010 / The Sanford Herald Mary Gwendolyn “Gwen� McIver
Todd McCulloch
SANFORD — Mary Gwendolyn “Gwen� Howard McIver died peacefully at the Hock Pavilion in Durham early Sunday, May 23, 2010. Gwen’s sense of humor, dignity, resolve and faith were gifts of immeasurable value to all who were with her during her illness. Born on January 17, 1926 in Sanford, she was the youngest of five children born to Richard Thomas and Helen Paschal Howard. She graduated from Sanford High School at sixteen, attended Greensboro College, Eastman School of Music in Rochester, N.Y., and graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a degree in music. Gwen was an accomplished pianist and organist. She taught piano at her home for sixty years and was organist at the First Presbyterian Church in Sanford for forty one years. She played for numerous weddings and funerals, and was active in the local music and arts community. Prior to the onset of her illness, she remained active as a piano teacher and had planned her end-of-year recital McIver for the first week in June. Music and interest in others was her passion. She was happiest when teaching and get-ting to know her students. Gwen was often allied with the downtrodden, and steadfast in her sense of honor and integrity. She was awarded Volunteer of the Year for her commitment to inmates at the Sanford Advancement Center through the Yoke Fellow Program. She felt exceptionally blessed and therefore accountable for the welfare of others. Gwen was predeceased by her parents, her husband William “Bill� Dunlap McIver, sister Helen Howard Parker and brothers Wilson Howard and Robert Howard, and family friend Beatrice Cameron. She is survived by her children, John McMillan McIver and his wife Wendy Excell McIver and their children Meredith, Caroline and Jack; Beth McIver Wickham and her husband Leslie Oliver Wickham and their sons Leslie III and Patrick; Marshall McIver and her husband Greg Murray and their daughters Kate and Allison Murray, and Robert Howard McIver and his wife Joy Gragg McIver and their son Gantt. She is also survived by her brother Leland Paschal “Pat� Howard and his wife Averill, sisters-in-law Nancy McIver Griffin and Lois McIver Winstead, and many nieces and nephews. Funeral services will be held at First Presbyterian Church in Sanford on Wednesday, May 26, at 11 a.m. followed by visitation with the family in the church’s Harper Center. Interment will be held at Gulf Presbyterian Church at 2 p.m. In lieu of flowers, please send memorial contributions to First Presbyterian Church, 212 Hawkins Ave., Sanford, N.C. 27330, or Duke Hospice, 4321 Medical Park Drive, Durham, N.C. 27704.
STATESVILLE — Mr. John Todd McCulloch, known as Todd, 48, of 148 Moonagerie Lane, Stony Point, died Sunday, May 23rd, at Iredell Memorial Hospital unexpectedly. Born July 2, 1961 in Lee County, he was a son of the late Raymond Everette McCulloch and Marjorie Kirkman McCulloch. Todd was a graduate of Eastern Carolina University and McCulloch was a partner in Pharmaceutical Calibrations and Consulting Inc. (PCI). He was a member of New Sterling A.R.P. Church where he served as a Deacon, President of his Sunday School Class and participated in the Praise and Worship Team. He was an avid
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fices, recreational vehicle rental, auto repairs shops and real estate offices – we are a nation of small businesses. Lee County’s 2010 Small Business of the Year, Chatlee Boat and Marine, has about 40 employees and a national reputation. The Yow family is active in our community, supporting local non-profits and youth sports teams. Practicing good corporate citizenship is second nature to most small business people because working for your community is good for business. Why are they so successful? North Carolina’s Small Business of the Year for 2010 is Beatrice Hair, founder of Salisbury Tutoring Academy, Ltd., a one-on-one, after school tutoring business. A visit to her website immedi-
golfer, played guitar and enjoyed watching ECU football. On March 8, 2003, he married the former Scotti Jenkins who survives. Also surviving are a son, Jacob McCulloch of Charlotte; two step children, Dylan and Garrett Deal, both of the home; a brother, Raymond McCulloch of Raleigh; and his Father and Mother-InLaw, Mr. and Mrs. Lynn Jenkins of Stony Point. Services celebrating Todd’s life will be conducted at 11 a.m. Wednesday at New Sterling A.R.P. Church with the Rev. Tim Watson officiating. He will lie in state at the church for one hour prior to the service and burial will follow in the church cemetery. Active pallbearers will be Kent Clarke, Frank Emory, Adrian Jarrett, Andy Mayhew, Jeff McNeely, Craig Pugh and Harvey Reese. Honorary pallbearers will be Elders and Deacons of New Sterling A.R.P.
Church. The family will receive friends immediately following the service in the church fellowship hall and other times they will be assembled at the residence of Mr. and Mrs. Lynn Jenkins, 2915 Old Mountin Road, Stony Point. Condolences may be sent online to the family at www.bunchjohnsonfuneralhome.com. Memorials may be given to the New Sterling A.R.P. Church, 580 New Sterling Road, Stony Point, N.C. 28678 or to The American Heart Association through a link for Todd at the following web address, http://honor. americanheart.org/site/TR/ Events/General? pxfid=144852&fr id=1030&pg=fund or by mail to American Heart Association 4217 Park Place Court, Glen Allen, Va. 23060 Bunch-Johnson Funeral Home is entrusted with the arrangements. Paid obituary
ately impresses you with testimonials and specific information about results for her students. Are results driving her success? Every week in the United States, nearly 12,000 people start a business. Seven out of ten new firms make it at least two years, and about half survive five years. It’s a risk but the payoff is huge: the satisfaction of building something from scratch, the joy of providing jobs and trying an idea, the thrill of making money on your own. These are the feelings business owners describe when asked why they started their business. But, according to research, the single characteristic common to successful small business owners is: focus – the ability to zero
in on a problem, analyze it, make a decision and move on to the next opportunity. While our economy is still recovering, opening a business might not seem like a good idea. But according to an article by Rhonda Abrams, president of The Planning Shop, publisher of books for entrepreneurs, now is a great to start a business. In fact, 16 of the 30 companies that make up the Dow industrial average were started during a recession or depression — companies like Procter & Gamble, Disney, Alcoa, McDonald’s, General Electric and Johnson & Johnson. Abrams reminds us that during the mid-seventies, at a time when the United States was at the end of an extremely
costly war that had divided the country, gas prices jumped by nearly 50 percent in two years and consumer confidence dropped to an all-time low. A terrible time to start a business, right? Here are just a few of the companies started in those awful years of the early 1970’s: Supercuts, Chili’s, Cablevision, Industrial Light & Magic, Famous Amos cookies, Oakley and, oh, yes, a small company called Microsoft. The Chamber constantly trumpets Lee County as a great place to live and work ‌ and start a business. If you think you have what it takes, there are plenty of resources here to help you get started. Good luck and Happy Small Business Week!
911
Monday afternoon. 911 operators received calls at approximately the same time Saturday morning from James Thompson Jr. and his friend Shannon Thompson. Both were making a stop at the residence when the bodies were found. “I was sitting in the car for a minute and then next thing you know James comes out and he’s telling me that Richard killed his family,� Shannon Thompson tells the 911 operator. “I’ve never seen anything like that.� Shannon Thompson said Richard Thompson had a history of drug problems. “His brother’s always been kind of crazy to me,� she told the operator. “Oh my God, I never thought he’d do anything like this though.� Throughout the calls, which were made at approximately the same time Saturday morning, the sounds of shouting and barking dogs can be heard in the background. Shannon Thompson
told the operator she believed the killings happened Friday night based on the state of the bodies. “There’s no doubt about it, (Richard Thompson’s) dead,� she said. “His feet are purple. His brains literally are all on the bed.� At one point during his call, James Thompson Jr. calms down enough to describe the bloody scene to the 911 operator and check his mother for signs of breathing. “I’m getting a little bit calmer because I’m used to seeing stuff like this on TV,� he tells the operator. The tape also captures a rattled Shannon Thompson as she describes the same scene to another operator. “I can’t believe this,� she says. “I’ve never seen anything so evil in my life.� McNeill said the investigation is ongoing, adding that Harnett County deputies had been called to the residence before. McNeill declined Monday to say the reasons for the previous calls.
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heard telling a 911 operator on the phone call. On the call, an irate James Thompson Jr. says his brother had been diagnosed with “homicidal, suicidal� tendencies and had made a recent posting to a MySpace Internet networking page saying “haters gonna get it.� Major Gary McNeill with the Harnett County Sheriff’s Office said Richard Thompson was living in the residence with his parents. No motive for the slayings was released by
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