1964 graduate Robert Winston dedicates education scholarship to his late wife, a longtime teacher
Robert Winston was 18 when his girlfriend at the time invited him to a Valentine’s Day dance at Oxford High School in February of 1960. Unlucky for her, Winston will always remember their date for another reason.
“She introduced me to her friend, Lynda,” he says. “I saw her smile, and it was just love at first sight. I really did fall for her.”
Robert Winston and Lynda Anne Lilly would date for the next five years before saying their vows. Their marriage would last 58 years before Lynda passed away in 2023.
In memory of his wife and her 55 years of service as an educator, Winston has set up a scholarship at Campbell University in his wife’s name. The Lynda Winston Memorial Scholarship will, he hopes, benefit future teachers from rural Granville County, north of Raleigh.
The scholarship symbolizes a deep connection with Campbell for Winston, a 1964 graduate, as it also honors generations of his family who have walked the school’s hallowed halls in Buies Creek as far back as 1911, when it was still an academy.
It all started with his father’s cousin,
Fred Pittard, who attended Buies Creek Academy from 1911 to 1914. His brother, Bridge Winston Pittard, joined him in 1912, and Robert’s uncle, Charlie Winston, was a student in 1918. Another uncle, Patrick Henry Winston, attended from 1918 to 1920 before transferring to UNC and eventually the Medical College of Virginia before becoming a doctor. He went on to serve in World War II and practiced medicine until 1975.
The family connection doesn’t stop there.
Robert’s aunt, Martha Layton Winston, served on Campbell’s Board of Trustees, and the former Layton Dorm on campus was named after her father. Robert’s nephew, James Pratt Winston II, graduated from Campbell in 1977 and became founder and partner of the accounting firm Winston, Williams, Creech, Evans & Company LLC in Oxford. Niece Kathryn Winston graduated Magna Sum Laude from Campbell, also in 1977, and enjoyed a 37-year career as an inspector for the College of American Pathologists.
Robert Winston enrolled at Campbell College in 1960, the fall after meeting Lynda, who chose Meredith College after high school the following year. At Campbell, Robert majored in history and social studies and was president of his 1964 senior class. That same year, he convinced Lynda to transfer from Meredith to finish up at Campbell, where she earned her degree in 1965.
Robert’s career also began in education, teaching U.S. government and history and launching the Industry Cooperative Training program at Stafford High School in Falmouth, Virginia, and later at Webb High School in Oxford, North Carolina. He was superintendent of Oxford Orphanage from 1975 to 1981, before he was named the presidential appointee under Ronald Reagan to lead the Federal Volunteers Program in Atlanta from 1981 to 2006.
Robert also served on the Campbell University Presidential Board of Advisors from 2007 to 2023. He received the Order of the Long Leaf Pine from North Carolina Governor Mike Easley in 2006.
His decision to teach was inspired by one of his Campbell professors,
Dr. John Bunn, who taught religion. Bunn showed grace to Winston in his senior year when he wasn’t in the right mind to take a test (giving him a 10-minute coffee break to ready himself). That gesture stuck with him, and the two became friends later on in life.
Winston has since spoken highly of his alma mater, guiding new generations of his family to Buies Creek. Second cousin Charles W. Dean graduated from Campbell in 1991 with a business degree. A few years before that, nephew John Thomas Winston also earned a business degree and launched a successful career in banking. John’s son, William Davis Winston (Robert Winston’s great nephew) is the most recent graduate earning his Professional Golf Management degree in 2015.
John Lee Winston earned a business degree and worked at Winston International and now owns all the Apple Spice Catering business franchises based in Raleigh. His daughter, Aleea Winston, is a current third-year student at Campbell Law School.
All told, a member of the Winston family has graduated under every Campbell president.
Robert Winston is proud of all of them. But the most important thing he got out of his Campbell experience was meeting Lynda.
His wife earned her degree in elementary education and taught second grade in Stafford County, Virginia and Granville County until 2006. Her love for teaching inspired her husband to focus her memorial scholarship on future teachers.
He says he hopes that when those students seek to find out more about the name on their gift, they learn that Lynda Winston was loved by just about everyone she met.
“The first thing you noticed about Lynda was her beautiful smile,” Robert says. “She lived with the statement that the least expensive thing you can give someone in life is a simple smile. And I can say this — and she would say it, too — we knew each other for 63 years, and we never had a serious argument or disagreement. She was just that kind of person.”