Scottie Stephenson May 29, 1921 - April 15, 2002

RALEIGH, NC--Louise "Scottie" Stephenson died this morning, Monday, April 15, 2002, after a period of declining health. She was 80 years old. Stephenson had given Capitol Broadcasting Company (CBC) 58 years of dedicated service at the time of her death, and was Corporate Secretary for the company for 49 of those years.

Stephenson began her career at CBC as a receptionist, secretary, and record librarian for what was then WRAL-AM Radio. She was a member, and the only female, on the five-person "first string" team to gain the first television station license in Raleigh for WRAL-TV. She appeared and testified before the FCC in Washington, DC, during the 75-day hearing and helped prepare the miles of paperwork, over 3,000 pages in all, necessary as the WRAL crew vied to receive the license for Channel 5.

Stephenson worked for CBC longer than any person in the history of the company, including founder A.J. Fletcher. She was the first employee on WRAL-TV's payroll. During her career with CBC, she did everything from writing commercials for radio sportscasts to filing FCC reports to being the "Lost & Found" lady on Fred Fletcher's radio show to serving as Secretary to CBC's 12 wholly-owned subsidiaries.

Stephenson was active in the Triangle community as well, serving on the board of the A.J. Fletcher Foundation and supporting the arts through volunteer work with the Raleigh Fine Arts Society and the North Carolina Symphony. She coordinated the Golden Age Club of Raleigh's annual Christmas luncheon for over four decades and saw that luncheon grow from 50 to over 1,500 people. Stephenson served on the Board of Directors and as Secretary of the Tammy Lynn Center, a resident care facility for severely retarded children, and worked with a variety of other community organizations.

She was named Business and Professional Woman of the Year of the Wake County Academy of Women, sponsored by the YWCA. She was also the first recipient of the Junior Women's Club Outstanding Working Member award.

Stephenson most recently resided at Springmoor where she was once again a leader and an inspiration to many. She organized and coordinated outings for her friends to everything from hockey matches to Durham Bulls games. Stephenson married Nelson W. "Steve" Stephenson in Raleigh on May 29, 1948. He preceded her in death in 1961. She never remarried.

Stephenson will be sorely missed by the many employees of CBC and by the community to which she so richly gave of herself.

• WRAL-TV prepared a video tribute to pay respects to this CBC legend