In Remembrance
Justin Wilson
March 5, 2008
Mr. Justin Wilson, age 20, of Indian Land, died Wednesday, March 5, 2008, at Carolinas Medical Center in Pineville.
The funeral will be at 11 a.m., Saturday, March 8, 2008 at Belair United Methodist Church, 8095 Shelley Mullis Road, Indian Land, with the Rev. Tony Adams officiating. Burial will be at the church cemetery.
Born in Charlotte, Justin was a son of Donald Calvin Wilson and the late Sarah Elizabeth Wilson. He was employed at C.E. Holt Refrigeration of Charlotte. He was a member of Belair United Methodist Church and was an avid hunter and fisherman.
Surviving are his father, Donald Wilson and his wife Dianne of Fort Mill; four brothers, Jonathan Wilson of Indian Land, Jeb Carter of Richburg, Brian Carter of Indian Land and Travis Carter of Lancaster; two sisters, Tara Surbaugh and Julie Barker, both of Rock Hill; grandparents, Joyce Wilson and Robert and Minnie Mae Wilson, all of Indian Land; and his fiancée, Taylor Marie Elliott of Fort Mill. He was preceded in death by his mother, Sarah Elizabeth Wilson; and a grandfather, Snapper Wilson.
The family will receive friends from 6 to 8 p.m., Friday, March 7, 2008 at Wolfe Funeral Home in Fort Mill.
Memorials may be made to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, S.C. Chapter, 107 Westpark Blvd. - Suite 150, Columbia, SC 29210.
Douglas Marcellus Wilson
February 18, 2008
LANCASTER , SC :::::: Mr. Douglas Marcellus Wilson, age 79, of 6603 Griffin Road , died Monday, February 18, 2008 at his home. He was born November 18, 1928 in Lancaster County , the son of the late Robert Marcellus Wilson and Beulah Lee Griffin Wilson was the husband of Peggy Roddey Wilson. Mr. Wilson graduated from Indian Land High School and retired from Springs Industries – Grace Bleachery. He was a member of Belair United Methodist Church , previously served as Scout Master, and served our great country in the United States Army in the Korean War.
Mr. Wilson was survived by his wife, Peggy Roddey Wilson of the home, 2 sons, Tim Wilson and his wife Angie of Lancaster and Randy Wilson and his wife Lisa of McDonough, Ga., 2 daughters, Phyllis Patton and her husband Robert of Lancaster and Kathy Wilson and her fiancé Dale Jordan of Lancaster, 3 brothers, Robert Daniel Wilson, Olin S. Wilson, and Luther A. Wilson all of Lancaster, 3 sisters, Nancy Lee Tillman of Lancaster, Helen Davis of Fort Mill, and Elizabeth Brown of Monroe, NC, 5 grandchildren, Robb Patton and his wife Mitzi of Lincolnton, NC, Jared K. Wilson and fiance’ Stephanie Creech, Matt T. Wilson of Lancaster, and Alyssa Riley Wilson of McDonough, GA, and 1 great granddaughter, Kristin Patton of Lincolnton, NC.
Mr. Wilson was preceded in death by a grandson, Steve Patton and a brother, Jesse L. Wilson.
The Celebration of Life Memorial Service for Mr. Wilson will be 3:00 pm, Thursday afternoon, February 20, 2008 at Belair United Methodist Church by Rev. Tony Adams. Burial will be private.
The Family of Mr. Wilson will receive friends at the church immediately following the service and at other times at the home, 6603 Griffin Road, and suggest memorial contributions be made to Belair United Methodist Church Building Fund, 8095 Shelley Mullis Road, Fort Mill, SC 29707 or Agape Hospice, 2155 Ebenezer Road, Rock Hill, SC 29732.
Ben Ray Wilson
January 5, 2008
Mr. Ben Ray Wilson, 86, of Indian Land, died Saturday, January 5, 2008, at his home.
The funeral will be at 3 p.m. Monday, January 7, 2008 at Belair United Methodist Church, with the Rev. Tony Adams officiating. Burial will be at the church cemetery.
Born in Indian Land, Mr. Wilson was a son of the late Benjamin Tillman Wilson and Valena Blanche Pettus Wilson. He served in the CBI Theatre with the U.S. Air Force during World War II. Mr. Wilson retired from Celanese, after 33 years of service. He was a member of Belair United Methodist Church, where he served on the Cemetery Committee for 44 years, on the Administrative Board and was a former financial secretary.
Surviving are his wife of 66 years, Emma Lucille Green Wilson; two daughters, Pamela W. Hill and Kathy W. Whiteside, both of Indian Land; his brother, Albert Leon Wilson of Indian Land; his sister, Dorothy W. Rodgers of Indian Land; eight grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by a son, Danny Ray Wilson; and a brother, Charles Lamar Wilson.
The family will receive friends from 6 to 8 p.m., Sunday, January 6, 2008 at Wolfe Funeral Home and other times at the home.
Memorials may be made to Belair United Methodist Church Building Fund, 8095 Shelley Mullis Road, Fort Mill, SC 29707.
Wolfe Funeral Home is assisting the family with arrangements.
Elmore "Buck" Pierce
December 23, 2007
Lee Johnson, Buck Pierce, Bobbie Jean Johnson
The Heart of Indian Land, A Heart for Indian Land
by Karen Paulson, for The Caroline Gateway Newspaper
November, 2006
“I’ve been on the south end of a northbound mule many a day over there,” James Elmore “Buck” Pierce says as he surveys the grounds of the new and current Indian Land High Schools. “This was all cotton fields.”
The school complex is on property that belonged to Pierce’s family when he was growing up. Pierce was born on the property on October 15, 1910. He was one of nine children in the family. He and his family still live on part of the original 150 acres.
Pierce graduated from Belair School, which was located about where the Boy Scout hut is on Shelley Mullis Road, next to Belair United Methodist Church. His class, the class of 1929, was the second to graduate from that school.
Education has always been important to Pierce. He is a college graduate, completing his degree at Rutherford College in 1931. This was a special accomplishment in those days — two years into the Great Depression.
After college, Pierce returned to Indian Land, where he bought the family homestead. The boll weevil drove him out of the cotton business and into furniture sales. He worked in Rock Hill for Maxeel & Moore Furniture until the store closed in 1955. He then worked for the Carl Mullis Lumber Company and then for the City of Lancaster in the City Clerk and Treasurer’s office.
Pierce and his wife, Dorothy “Dot” Steele, now deceased, raised two sons on the Pierce land. In the late 1970s, he was approached by the Lancaster County School District about selling property for a new high school. Pierce sold his prime location to the district at a substantially lower price than its true value. “The community needed the school and we need to help the community,” sister Bobbie Jean Johnson said. “And we thought we’d rather see a school over there than rows of houses,” Pierce chimed in.
Pierce is philosophical about the changes and growth in Indian Land. He loves meeting people and making new friends. He greets visitors with a string of jokes such as, “What did the sardines say when the submarine went by?” “There goes a can of people!” Pierce, 96 years old now, does not get out and about without Johnson’s assistance. But he has sound advice for Indian Land’s lifelong residents: “Go knock on doors, introduce yourself, and invite them to church!”
