[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 17 (Thursday, February 24, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: February 24, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                            HUGH L. WILLCOX

  Mr. THURMOND. Mr. President I rise to pay tribute to Mr. Hugh L. 
Willcox, an able attorney and one of the leading citizens of Florence, 
SC, who recently passed away.
  While Mr. Willcox's passing is indeed unfortunate, he lived a long 
and productive life. In his almost nine decades on this earth, Mr. 
Willcox established a well deserved reputation as both an able and 
respected lawyer and a dedicated civic leader, serving on a number of 
boards and associations. He was president of both the South Carolina 
and Florence Country Bar Associations and was recognized by the 
University of South Carolina with an honorary doctor of laws degree for 
his many contributions to the profession. He was also awarded the South 
Carolina bar's prestigious Durant Award.
  The list of community activities in which Mr. Willcox was active is 
too lengthy to cite here, but included businesses, schools, charities, 
and churches. I do not believe that I am exaggerating when I say that 
there was not a corner of Florence that did not benefit from Hugh 
Willcox's interest and involvement.
  Mr. President, Hugh Willcox was a personal friend of mine, and we are 
all saddened by his death. His family are in my thoughts and prayers at 
this most difficult time. He is survived by his wife, Polly Robinson 
Willcox; son, Hugh L. Willcox, Jr.; daughter, Julia W. Buyck; daughter 
in law, Henrietta W. Willcox; stepson, William Odell; stepdaughter, 
Alexander Odell; seven grandchildren; two great-
grandchildren; and a brother, E. Lloyd Willcox.
  I ask unanimous consent that a copy of Mr. Willcox's obituary from 
the Florence Morning News be inserted into the Record following my 
remarks.
  There being no objection the article was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

             [From the Florence Morning News, Feb. 5, 1994]

                          (By Hugh L. Willcox)

       Hugh Labarbe Willcox, 88, a native of Florence and a link 
     to this city's earliest days, died Friday, Feb. 4, 1994.
       He was a son of the late Frederick L. and Clara Chase 
     Willcox. His grandfather, Jerome P. Chase, was one of 
     Florence's pioneer residents and its first mayor.
       Funeral services are scheduled for 3 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 6, 
     1994, at St. John's Episcopal Church followed by burial in 
     Mount Hope Cemetery, directed by Waters-Powell Funeral Home.
       He was educated in the public schools of Florence and at 
     Bingham Military School in Asheville. He took his 
     undergraduate degree from the University of North Carolina 
     and his law degree from the University of South Carolina 
     School of Law. He was first married to the late Julia Johnson 
     Willcox of Florence, who died in 1986.
       He is survived by his widow, Polly Robinson Willcox, a son, 
     Hugh L. Willcox Jr. of Florence; a daughter, Julia W. Buyck 
     of Florence; a daughter-in-law, Henrietta W. Willcox, wife of 
     the deceased son Fred L. Willcox, of Florence; a stepson, 
     William Robinson Odell of Charlotte, N.C.; a stepdaughter, 
     Alexander Patterson Odell of Palm Dessert, Calif., seven 
     grandchildren including Mark W. Buyck III, Julie B. 
     McKissick, Hugh W. Buyck, E. Lloyd Willcox II, Henrietta W. 
     Dotterer, Hugh L. Willcox III and Walker H. Willcox; two 
     greatgrandchildren; and a brother, E. Lloyd Willcox of 
     Charleston.
       A distinguished and highly acclaimed lawyer, his legal 
     career was interrupted by service in the U.S. Army from 1940 
     to 1946. He was stationed for a period with the 263rd Coast 
     Artillery at Ft. Moultrie as adjutant to Florence legendary 
     Col. Frank Barnwell, who commanded the Florence National 
     Guard unit he had joined shortly after college. He was 
     discharged from the army following World War II with the rank 
     of lieutenant colonel. Since that time, he has bee a senior 
     member of the law firm of Willcox, McLeod, Buyck & Williams, 
     the firm which was established by his father in 1895 as 
     Willcox & Willcox.
       He is past president of the S.C. Bar Association and the 
     Florence County Bar Association, permanent member of the 
     Judicial Conference of the U.S. 4th Judicial Circuit and 
     member of the American Bar Association, in which he served on 
     numerous committees including most recently the committee on 
     state legislation.
       He was honored by the University of South Carolina in 1986 
     when he received an honorary doctor of laws degree 
     recognizing his long-time and exemplary public service and 
     his distinguished legal career spanning six decades. He was 
     trustee emeritus of the university having served on the Board 
     of Trustees for 20 years representing the 12th Judicial 
     Circuit.
       Past chairman of the Board of Directors of Peoples Federal 
     Savings and Loan Association and former member of the 
     Florence Advisory Board of South Carolina National Bank, he 
     was a director and vice president of Motel Associates Inc.
       Interested in civic and educational affairs, he was past 
     president of the board of trustees of the Florence Museum and 
     the Florence County Historical Society and was treasure of 
     the Florence Memorial Stadium Commission for four decades. He 
     was a former member of the board of trustees of St. Mary's 
     College in Raleigh, N.C., and served as chairman of the S.C. 
     State Library Board and a member of the Tricentennial 
     Commission for South Carolina. When the Florence public 
     school system was governed by an annual residents meeting, he 
     presided over the assemblage for many years.
       He served as a member of the board of trustees of McLeod 
     Regional Medical Center for more than 35 years and was 
     recently named the hospital's first trustee emeritus. He was 
     a former director of Mount Hope Cemetery Association and he 
     also served on the board of Pawleys Island Civic Association 
     and the board of directors Litchfield Country Club and was a 
     former member of the board of the Florence Country Club.
       He took great interest in St. John's Episcopal Church, 
     where he was a life-long member and served as past senior and 
     junior warden and in many diocesan capacities.
       Other membership include Theta Chi Fraternity at the 
     University of North Carolina, past president of Florence 
     Kiwanis Club, past state vice commander and judge advocate of 
     the American Legion, board of directors of the American 
     Cancer Society and Florence United Way, Florence Heritage 
     Foundation, National Association of Railroad Trail Counsel, 
     past S.C. director of the Judicature Society, Palmetto Club 
     and Centurion Society.
       He received the 1986 Friends of the Florence Museum Award. 
     In 1985, the South Carolina Bar Association presented him the 
     Durant Award, its highest honor in recognition of his long 
     and distinguished service to this state.
       The family is at Bannockburn, his residence at 500 Howe 
     Springs Road.
       Memorials may be made to St. John's Episcopal Church, 
     Florence Museum or University of South Carolina Education 
     Foundation.

                          ____________________