Louise Lupton Byrne Steiniger

Mrs. Louise Laurie Lupton Byrne Steiniger passed away July 21, 2013 in Kate B Reynolds Hospice Home, Winston Salem, NC. Her passing marks the end of a beautiful life of parenthood and service to others as well as the end of a difficult, ten year battle with Alzheimer’s .

Louise was predeceased by her beloved husband of thirty years, Henry A Byrne, and her beloved husband of ten years, Dan O Steiniger. Her parents, Mack L and Louisa Scheer Lupton are also deceased.

As a loving, strong and steadfast mother, Louise leaves behind one son, Henry G. Byrne, or Hank as she called him, and a daughter-in-law, Cindy Marshall Byrne of Stokesdale, NC. And one daughter, Laurie Byrne Smith and son-in-law, Byron F Smith, of Port Saint Lucie, Florida.

She was the proud, loving grandma to Karin Smith Shirts of Fort Pierce, Florida, Frankie Smith of Canton, NC and her granddaughter, Shannon Byrne of Stokesdale. Louise’s granddaughter-in-law is Randi Monroe Smith. Louise believed that her grandchildren were the sun and the moon and the stars and she made sure they knew it. There are many happy grandma-grandchild memories.

Louise was the fortunate great grandma to Chris Israel who is a young soldier at Fort Bragg. Devin Patrick Smith of Canton, NC, Cameron Shirts and Monika Shirts of Fort Pierce, Florida are her youngest great grandchildren. She firmly believed that these great grandchildren were rewards for a long life.

A graduate of New Bern High School, Virginia Intermont and The University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, she held a degree in Social Work. Louise was the former Executive Director of Navy Relief at Cherry Point, a social worker for Craven County and a volunteer in many organizations including Turtle Watch, Sailor’s Snug Harbor and Hospice. One of her favorite segments of her career was being the adoption caseworker for Craven County. She felt it was nearly a calling to place children with loving families. Much of her life was spent in the service of others and she was blessed by this service. A devout Presbyterian, she taught Sunday school at First Presbyterian for as many as fifteen years , later as a member of West Presbyterian Church, she served as a deacon.

Many will remember seeing Louise walking nearly every day through DeGraffienreid Park, usually her route took her near her childhood home, the Lupton house, a well known Tudor style home built by Mack Lupton in the 1930’s. Louise was a staunchly loyal native New Bernian, always proud of her hometown and ready to tell any stranger how wonderful it was to live there. And she was Dean Smith’s biggest fan with a deep love for Carolina basketball .

Visitation will be held from 6:00-8:00 pm Saturday, July 27, 2013 at Cotten Funeral Home. A graveside service will be held at 2:00 pm Sunday, July 28,2013 at Cedar Grove Cemetery.

The family requests that any memorials be directed to Alzheimer’s research, the American Cancer Society or a charity of your choice.

Online condolences may be made to the Steiniger family at www.cottenfuneralhome.com