[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 31 (Tuesday, February 24, 2015)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E243-E244]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 IN MEMORY OF JOHN GREGG McMASTER, JR.

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. JOE WILSON

                           of south carolina

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, February 24, 2015

  Mr. WILSON of South Carolina. Mr. Speaker, a Service of Worship was 
conducted on Sunday, February 22, 2015, at the First Presbyterian 
Church of Columbia, South Carolina, in Remembrance of and Thanksgiving 
for the Life of John Gregg McMaster, Jr.
  Participating in the service were The Rev. Dr. Derek W. H. Thomas, 
Senior Minister, The Rev. Dr. John R. deWitt, Mr. Ronald E. Miller, 
Organist, and Mr. Christian Markle, Bagpiper. Honorary Pallbearers were 
The Elders and Deacons of the First Presbyterian Church. The following 
obituary was published in the Service program:
  John Gregg McMaster, Jr., 100, passed away in Columbia early Friday 
morning, February 20, 2015. Born March 16, 1914, in Florence, the son 
of Dr. and Mrs. John Gregg

[[Page E244]]

McMaster, he received a bachelor's degree in economics from the 
University of South Carolina in 1936, an L.L.B. from the University of 
South Carolina School of Law in 1938, and a J.D. degree in 1970.
  In 1944 he married Ida Bacot Dargan of Florence, whose nickname was 
``Pet.'' They had six children, all boys, four of whom became lawyers.
  Mr. McMaster was elected to the South Carolina House of 
Representatives in 1944, serving two terms. From 1953-1954, he served 
as Code Commissioner for South Carolina, and from 1952-1967 he served 
on the SC Aeronautics Commission, the last eleven years as chairman.
  He was elected president of the Richland County Bar Association in 
1976. From 1982-1988, he served on the board of the Richland County 
Public Defender Corporation, the last two years as chairman. He was 
elected to the American College of Trial Lawyers in 1968; awarded 
membership in the Cum Laude Club by Fellows of the Foundation, the USC 
Education Foundation, in 1969; elected a Fellow in the International 
Academy of Trial Lawyers in 1981; awarded the John W. Williams 
Distinguished Service Award by Richland County Bar Association in 1991; 
and awarded the Order of the Palmetto by Governor Carroll Campbell in 
1991. He was honored in 1991 by the Resolution of the South Carolina 
House of Representatives for distinguished service to the South 
Carolina Association Trial Lawyers Association in 2004; awarded 
membership in the American Board of Trial Associates in 2004; received 
the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Richland County Bar Association 
in 2012; and received a Resolution of congratulations from the South 
Carolina House of Representatives on his ninety-ninth birthday in 2013.
  Admitted to practice in all state and federal courts in SC, Mr. 
McMaster was a member of the Richland County Bar Association, the South 
Carolina Bar, the National Association of Railroad Trial Counsel, the 
South Carolina Defense Trial Attorneys Association and the Fourth 
Circuit Judicial Conference. For years he was the senior practicing 
attorney in South Carolina, having been at the bar over seventy-five 
years upon his retirement in 2013. He tried his last case at age 93.
  Mr. McMaster was a member of the Saint Andrews Society of Columbia, 
The Torch Club, Forest Lake Club, The Forum Club, The Centurion Society 
and The Columbia Ball. He was a member of First Presbyterian Church in 
Columbia from his college days and served as Sunday school teacher, 
Deacon, Elder, and Elder Emeritus.
  Mr. McMaster was predeceased by his wife, Ida Dargan; his sister, 
Eleanor ``Sis'' McMaster Bradham (Riley, Jr.) of Sumter; and his 
brother Hugh Buchanan McMaster (Jean Kelly) of Columbia.
  He is survived by his six sons, John Gregg McMaster, III (Judy Cook), 
Lieutenant Governor and former Attorney General Henry Dargan McMaster 
(Peggy McAbee), George McMaster, William Gourdin McMaster (Elizabeth 
Laffitte), Frank Barnwell McMaster, all of Columbia, and Joseph Dargan 
McMaster of Charlotte; grandchildren, John Gregg McMaster, IV (Laurel 
Briggs) of Columbia, Henry Dargan McMaster, Jr. of Columbia, Mary 
Rogers McMaster of New York, William Gourdin McMaster, Jr. MD, of 
Nashville, Dargan McMaster Rain (Rob) of Spartanburg, George Hunter 
McMaster, II of New York, Joseph Dargan McMaster, Jr. of Columbia, 
Eleanor Gourdin McMaster of Columbia; and great grandson, Shawn 
McMaster of Columbia; and great granddaughter, Elizabeth Laffitte Rain 
of Spartanburg.