WELDON – Araminta Sawyer Pierce Blowe, or “A” (as she was affectionately called by her family and friends) died peacefully on April 3, 2013 at her residence at The Fountains at the Albemarle in Tarboro.

She was born on October 31, 1911 in Windsor, NC to the late Dr. Charles Judson Sawyer and Lucy Purefoy Allen Sawyer.  She attended Salem College in Winston-Salem, where she was a member of the May Court.  She was presented at the second Debutante Ball in Raleigh.

Active in the community of Weldon, a town she loved and lived in for 82 years, she served on the Weldon Memorial Library Board, was an honorary member of The Thursday Afternoon Club, and The Roanoke Committee of the National Society of the Colonial Dames of America in the state of NC, and a member of Poetry Club International.

She was an active member of Grace Episcopal Church, having served on the Vestry, a member of the Altar Guild and choir.  Among many other activities she enjoyed playing the piano, guitar and harmonica, golf, a game of bridge with friends, reading, gardening and swimming.

She was predeceased by her first husband, William Alexander Pierce, Jr. of Weldon; and her second husband, Dr. Ralph Boyd Blowe, Sr., also of Weldon; her daughter, Martha (Marty) Pierce DeVere Rumley of Raleigh; and a great- grandson, Henry Gillam Spruill of Windsor.

She is survived by three children, William Alexander Pierce III and his wife, Sally Jarman Pierce, of Roanoke Rapids, Araminta Pierce Coolidge and her husband, William Anderson Coolidge, Jr. of Memphis, TN, and Dr. Charles Grainger Pierce and his wife, Mary Everett Pierce, of Ahoskie; eight grandchildren, Sally Pierce Corpening and her husband, Charles Albert Corpening, of Winston-Salem, Lucy Pierce Spruill and her husband, Wayland Outlaw Spruill, of Windsor, Caroline Coolidge Brown and her husband, The Reverend Kevin Scott Brown, of Charlotte, Charles Royal Coolidge and his wife, Danielle Shelley Coolidge, of Memphis, TN, David Grainger DeVere of Roxboro, John Sloan DeVere  of Washington, DC, Charles Grainger Pierce, Jr. and his wife, Brianna De Marco Pierce, of Gastonia, and Mary Sawyer Pierce Long and her husband, Scott Galloway Long, of Wilmington; thirteen great-grandchildren, William Pierce Corpening, Charles Allen Corpening,  Isabella Purefoy Spruill, Lucy Outlaw Spruill, Sally Pierce Spruill, and Sarah Hunter Spruill, Emily Purefoy Brown, Margaret Mews Brown, Charles Royal Coolidge, Jr., William Daniel Coolidge, Charles Jackson Long, Benjamin Shuler Long, Charles Grainger Pierce, III;  two stepchildren, Carol Blowe Landen and her husband, Charles Macon Landen, Sr., of Chesterfield, VA, and Ralph Boyd Blowe, Jr. of Kill Devil Hills.

Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. on Sunday, April 7, at Grace Episcopal Church in Weldon with the Rev. Ben Duffey officiating.  Burial will follow at Cedarwood Cemetery in Weldon.  A reception for family and friends will then be held in the Parrish House of the church.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Grace Episcopal Church, 416 Washington Ave, Weldon, NC 27890 or to SalemCollege, 601 S. Church Street, Winston-Salem, NC  27101.

Askew Funeral & Cremation Services in Roanoke Rapids is handling the arrangements, where online condolences may be made to the family at www.askewfs.com.