[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 125 (Thursday, September 23, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Page S11371]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

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        ON THE SERVICE OF JUDGE LEWIS STITH TO SULLIVAN'S ISLAND

 Mr. HOLLINGS. Mr. President, it is a pleasure for me to 
recognize today one of South Carolina's finest public servants, Judge 
Lewis Stith. August 1 marked Mr. Stith's 43d year of continued service 
to the town of Sullivan's Island.
  A native of Sullivan's Island, Mr. Stith and his wife, Marguerite, 
raised their five children there after he returned from service in the 
U.S. Coast Guard during World War II. He later served in the Korean 
war.
  In 1956, Lewis Stith was appointed a Charleston County magistrate, a 
position he held for 25 years. In 1981, he was appointed municipal 
judge of Sullivan's Island, a position he still holds. Judge Stith's 
civic accomplishments are numerous and include helping to organize the 
Sullivan's Island Volunteer Fire and Rescue Department 51 years ago.
  The Sept. 1-7 issue of the Moultrie News featured an article which 
pays tribute to Lewis Stith's commitment to Sullivan's Island and to 
his wife and children who are continuing the island leadership 
tradition. I ask that the article be printed in the Record.
  The article follows:

                  [From the Moultrie News, Sept. 1999]

                    Lewis Stith of Sullivan's Island

       The ``Island Boys'' ruled the beach back then. Lewis Stith, 
     Burt and George Wurthman, Frank and Vernon Damewood, Tony 
     Blanchard, and John and Otis Pickett, just to name a few, 
     spent their days enjoying the ocean, and playing half rubber 
     on the beach at Sullivan's Island. Life was simple. Being 
     surrounded by summer cottages and neighbors that knew 
     everyone made life a yearlong vacation. The Pavilion was 
     located at Station 22 and Burmester's Pharmacy was where 
     Sullivan's Restaurant now stands. The soldiers at Fort 
     Moultrie shot off the cannons everyday at 5 p.m. to mark the 
     end of the day.
       Lewis Stith, who was born at Station 24, November 9th, 
     1921, is still there and though his life has taken him on 
     many journeys, he always returns because, ``There's no place 
     in the world like Sullivan's Island!''
       The son of Luther P. and Susan Maguire Stith, Lewis is a 
     well known figure on Sullivan's Island. After high school, 
     Lewis went on to work for the Army as a Post Exchange Clerk 
     and later as a bookkeeper until WW II. He then entered the 
     Coast Guard and served at various shore stations and was 
     eventually assigned to a troop transport--U.S.S. General A.W. 
     Brewster APA 155--as a gunners mate. He traveled the 
     European, Asiatic and Pacific theaters transporting troops. 
     At the end of the war, Lewis was discharged on the WWII Point 
     System in 1945.
       Lewis returned to Sullivan's Island to be with his wife 
     Marguerite Strickland and eventually raised five children. 
     His sons are well known islanders as well. Paul is a Wachovia 
     Bank Manager, Marshall is the Mayor of Sullivan's Island and 
     owner of Station 22 Restaurant, and Anthony is the Sullivan's 
     Island Fire Chief. Their two daughters, Debbie White and 
     Susan Hindman, are both school teachers. The Stith's have six 
     grandchildren.
       After several jobs, 35 years at the Exxon corporation and 
     also serving in the Korean War, Lewis was appointed a 
     Charleston County Magistrate on August 1st, 1956, by State 
     Senator T. Allen Legare. He remained a Magistrate for 25 
     years. On August 1st, 1981, Lewis was appointed Municipal 
     Judge for Sullivan's Island and is still serving in this 
     position.
       ``When I was first appointed Magistrate in 1956,'' said 
     Stith ``Mount Pleasant, Sullivan's Island, and the Isle of 
     Palms had only one police officer in each town. Buck Gossett 
     was the only Highway Patrolman in the area and Charleston 
     County had very few officers back then.''
       Fifty-one years ago, five guys got together to form the 
     Sullivan's Island Volunteer Fire and Rescue Department. 
     Lewis, along with Art Chiola, Joe Rowland, Red Wood and Leo 
     Truesdale are the original five members and are still active 
     in the volunteer effort today. The Army donated two trucks 
     and a station to house them. They were the first volunteer 
     rescue squad in the county.
       Lewis served as chief of the department, and recalls one 
     particular devastating fire that was very chilling. ``I think 
     it was 1952 on Station 28. The house was in the shape of an 
     H. The kitchen wall backed up to the children's bedroom wall 
     and a gas fire ignited and spread. Art Chiola and I found the 
     children the next day in a closet,'' he said, describing the 
     remains as gruesome. ``Apparently, they couldn't find the 
     door and entered the closet looking for a way out.''
       The Volunteer Fire Department started some of Sullivan's 
     Island's most popular events including the annual Fish Fry 
     and Oyster Roast. Fifty one years ago, the Fish Fry started 
     as a fund raiser for Red Wood's sister-in-law who need 
     surgery for an aneurysm. It eventually grew into a large 
     community event and the proceeds raised now go to fund the 
     Fire and Rescue Division's special training and equipment. 
     ``We have a tremendous turnout these days,'' said Lewis. 
     ``When we first started it was in the same location that it 
     is now, but all we had was some cinder blocks and a steel 
     plate to cook on. Now things have grown and we have the 
     present facility called `The Big Tin.' ''
       Lewis and Marguerite remember the good old days on the 
     island. ``After Labor day,'' said Marguerite, ``The 
     vacationers would all go home and there would only be about 
     25 permanent residents.''
       ``We played recreation activities with the soldiers and got 
     to see first run movies at the fort,'' added Lewis. ``Middle 
     Street was the only road through the town and you could drive 
     your car on the beach.''
       Marguerite was a Charleston girl, and Lewis met her through 
     a friend. He began to date her and, according to Marguerite, 
     ``We'd come over the Sullivan's Island Bridge and every time 
     he would say, `Smell that good salt air? Isn't it great?' I 
     never told him that I could smell that same air on the Cooper 
     River Bridge and in Charleston,'' she said laughing. ``He 
     thought there was no better place than Sullivan's Island, and 
     he was right!''
       After Hurricane Hugo though, the island completely changed. 
     ``All the summer cottages were wiped out entirely and 
     replaced with massive homes that tower over the beach. But 
     this is still God's country!'' said Lewis. ``You can't find a 
     better place to raise a family.''
       August 1st of this year marked the 43rd Anniversary of 
     Lewis's continued service for the Town of Sullivan's Island. 
     He's done many other things for the town, including forming 
     the VFW Walter Brownell Post #3137 on Sullivan's Island. He 
     served as the first Commander.
       Lewis attributes all of his success to many things, but his 
     greatest accomplishment he said, was marrying his wife and 
     raising his five successful children. ``I owe it all to my 
     good family upbringing. I grew up during the Depression and 
     we just learned to take care of what you had. I am also a 
     member of Stella Maris Catholic Church. These things have 
     taken me where I'm at today.''
       Still active as a judge, and still loving Sullivan's Island 
     like he always has, Lewis sums it up by saying, ``I've been 
     all over the world, and there is no place like the sandy spot 
     we live on. I love it here.''

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