Sybil Bateman Pipho

Sybil Bateman Pipho (July 30, 1924 – July 23, 2022) Sybil Bateman Pipho was born on July 30, 1924, in Plymouth, NC. She was the daughter of Robert Midgett Bateman and Margaret Dean Simpson. She was raised in a large family of five brothers and three sisters on a tobacco farm in Pinetown, NC. She left the farm at the outset of WWII to work at Langley Field, VA until her marriage to Lavern F. “Pete” Pipho, of Waverly, Iowa. She was a nurturing mother and a diligent homemaker until her children were raised and on their own. She then returned to the workforce as a secretary for the Norfolk Public School System from which she retired in 1981. Pete and Sybil were married on January 6, 1947. Pete’s naval career took her family to different duty stations over the span of 32 years. Retiring to Lake Gaston in 1981, Pete and Sybil enjoyed a rich and rewarding life at Lake Gaston that only full-time “lake dwellers” can truly know. Sybil was a founding member of Lakeside Lutheran Church and early member of the Lake Gaston Ladies’ Club. She was an avid bridge and golf player, loved to play BINGO with her grandkids at the fire station, and took 4:00 afternoon swims with many friends and family in her cove. Sybil is survived by her three children John of Littleton, NC, Steven (wife Debbie) of Henrico, NC, and Patricia of St. Augustine, FL, as well as 7 grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren. Additionally, the family would like to give a special thanks to the faithful caretakers who worked with her to keep her healthy, happy, and content at home in the years following Pete’s death in 2016. We are grateful for the loyalty and genuine love that Portia Demming Tabron, Dorothy Walden, Jennifer Fleischer Anderson, Lynette Davis, and most recently, Sharon Coleman showed our mother. We love you, our sisters. In lieu of flowers, please send donations to the charity of your choice in her honor. The Pipho family