[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.
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