Marguerite Lovett Robbins

Marguerite (Rita) Lovett Robbins passed peacefully during the morning of February 14 in her Chapel Hill home. Born in Columbia, SC in 1943, Rita grew up in Rutherfordton, NC, as the first of six children. Rita attended Mars Hill College and graduated from UNC Women’s College (now UNC-Greensboro) in 1965, and she married Samuel B. McLamb, Jr. During his military service, the couple lived in Germany and then Texas, where she earned an MBA at the University of Texas at Austin in 1970. Shortly afterwards, the couple moved to Winston-Salem, NC. There, Rita conducted commercial real estate analysis for Wachovia Bank before starting independent real estate investments, and was one of few women in the profession at the time.

Blessed with four children within four years while in Winston-Salem, Rita moved with her husband and children to Goldsboro, NC, where she started a commercial real estate business. In 1990, Rita moved to Chapel Hill, NC, where she formed many special friendships, built a new real estate business, joined University United Methodist Church, and continued to fiercely and lovingly support each of her children.

A person of many passions, Rita was especially proud of her North Carolina roots. She loved to share memories about growing up in western North Carolina, and her stories of picking peaches and climbing sky-high trees are family classics. Rita was also a talented designer and dressmaker; as a teen she won national awards for her design and dressmaking skills. Her love for nature from her childhood was lifelong. She enjoyed spending long days watching wildlife in her backyard, a woodland conservation area. Later in life, the only place she preferred to her home woods was the beach at Emerald Isle, NC. She loved spending time in Emerald Isle, NC with her family, particularly watching the ocean and listening to mockingbirds in the live oak trees from her rocking chair on the deck.

Of her many personal and professional accomplishments, she was most proud of her work building programs to support others. Among other nationally significant efforts, Rita founded the first in-patient clinic to address eating disorders in NC, with the support of private donors and the UNC Health System. This program, the NC Center for Excellence in Eating Disorders (CEED), is now an internationally significant treatment and global research center that saves lives and supports families grappling with anorexia and bulimia.

Rita was particularly dedicated to a scholarship fund that she established in memory of her daughter Jennifer, a dedicated therapist who passed away in 2015. The fund supports graduate students in the social work department in the School of Health and Human Sciences at UNC-Greensboro. Meeting scholarship recipients and reading about their lives and goals each year since the program’s inception filled her heart with hope and pride.

Rita’s greatest joy was spending time with her four children and her grandchildren and the love of her life, her second husband Jim Nass. Married in 2019, Rita and Jim made many wonderful memories, and her love for him blazed brightly. Rita was predeceased by her parents, Clyde and Hazel Robbins, brother Phillip Robbins, daughter Jennifer McLamb Whitaker, and infant grandchildren Catherine Merle Kelly, Elizabeth Ann Kelly, and Alexander Whitaker. Rita is survived by her loving husband Jim Nass of Pittsboro, NC; daughter Marguerite E. McLamb of Chapel Hill, NC; daughter Catherine McLamb Brown of Charlottesville, VA; son Samuel B. McLamb III of Asheville, NC; four grandsons, Tyler Brown Jr., Kemper Brown, Sam McLamb IV, and Hugh Kelly; and two granddaughters, Hazel Brown and Eleanor McLamb.

Many will remember Rita for her radiant smile, her tenacity, and her compassion for others, particularly those in need. A private family service will be held February 27, and a memorial service will be planned for a later date. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the Jennifer Ann McLamb Whitaker Scholarship Fund. Gifts can be mailed to: UNCG Advancement Services, Attention: Theresa Hancock, PO Box 26170, Greensboro, NC 27402. For more information or to make a gift by phone, call (336) 256-1050.