Stiles Stribling Obituary

Stiles Conger Stribling CHAPEL HILL, NC - Stiles Conger Stribling, 91, passed away on January 9, 2014. Born in Gaffney, SC on April 16, 1922, he was the son of Stiles Conger Stribling and Ethel Ramsey Hopkins. He graduated from Clemson in 1943 with a degree in Electrical Engineering. Immediately following graduation he completed Officer Candidate School, and as a US Army Signal Corps Officer served 30 months in New Guinea, the Philippines and Japan, returning home to be discharged in 1946. He then joined the RCA Corporation as a Radar Systems Engineer and retired after 42 years including two tours spanning seven years on Kwajalein Island in the Marshall Islands. He married Marion Newbold (d. 1994) of Mt. Holly, NJ in 1949 and they enjoyed 45 years together. On Kwajalein Island he volunteered as the church adult choir director and amateur "Ham" radio operator. He helped connect a trans-pacific communications network for soldiers serving in Viet Nam to call home on weekends via a string of radio operators in the Pacific linking to telephone service in Hawaii and the mainland U.S. On returning to the New Jersey home office of RCA in the late 70s he transitioned from surface radars to work on the US Navy's Aegis radar and communications systems until his retirement in 1988. He also rejoined the 1st Presbyterian Church in Mt. Holly, NJ and served as an elder and enjoyed singing in the choir. In 1989 Stiles and Marion retired to Hawaii and in 1991 relocated to the community of Carolina Meadows in Chapel Hill, NC. Stiles was active with daily walking or swimming and numerous volunteer roles. He was involved in Community Theater, a local Barbershop Quartet and the Chapel Hill United Presbyterian Church choir. In 1995 he married Carolina Meadows resident and his square dancing partner, Louise Jones (d. 2002). He is survived by his two sons, Robert Stiles Stribling (Janet) of Greer, SC, and Fred Newbold Stribling (Anne) of Mt. Pleasant, SC, his sister, Dr. Martha Stribling Smith of Burlington, NC and four grandchildren, Eric Andrew Stribling, Laura Katherine Stribling, Eileen Campbell Stribling and Kate Newbold Stribling. A reception in celebration of Stiles' life will be held for the Carolina Meadows community on Friday January 17th from 2-3 pm. Interment will be held 2 pm, Saturday, January 18th at the Upper Springfield Cemetery in Wrightstown, NJ. In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be made by check to: Alzheimer's Association, PO Box 96011 Washington, DC 20090-6011 or www.alz.org. Arrangements by the Perinchief Chapels, Mt. Holly, NJ. Visit www.perinchief.com to sign the online guestbook. Visit our guestbook at www.legacy.com/obituaries/ charleston