Lost: 160 mill jobs

Slowdown prompts cuts at Greenwood Mills

December 13, 2006

By ERIN LONG
Index-Journal staff writer

Some 160 Greenwood Mills employees will be getting a pink slip in their stockings this Christmas.
The local textile plant announced Tuesday it will be letting 160 employees go by February 2007. The layoffs will be at the Matthews Plant in South Greenwood, and arise as a direct result of the slowdown in orders for military fabric by the United States government, a company official said.
James Self, CEO of Greenwood Mills, said no further layoffs are on the horizon, but only 70 workers will remain at the Matthews plant. A few workers might find employment at the Harris plant, and the rest will be able to meet with representatives from One Stop, part of the South Carolina Employment Security Commission, which will be visiting the plant.
As hard as the decision was, Greenwood Mills officials say the loss of business left them no other choice.
Greenwood Mayor Floyd Nicholson said he is “devastated” by the news, but he is optimistic other local industries might be able to offer these workers jobs. Nicholson was particularly concerned that the workers would be without health care, but Self said benefits would remain available for a limited time.
Greenwood Mills has been a local institution for more than 100 years, and has remained in the hands of the Self family for the entirety of its existence. Despite efforts to maintain a local workforce, competition from overseas manufacturers and a decline in profit margins have taken their toll on Greenwood Mills and many other textile plants across the Southeast.
According to the National Council of Textile Organizations, the textile industry has experienced a 35 percent loss in jobs during the past five years. Countries such as China and India offer a significantly cheaper product — China undercuts international prices by more than 50 percent — and American manufacturers simply can’t compete.
Since 1997, 83 textile plants have closed in South Carolina, causing thousands of workers to seek jobs with the remaining plants, or to file for unemployment. In 2001, Greenwood Mills closed two of its plants, and 100 workers were laid off from the Matthews plant.
Jeff Fowler, CEO of the Partnership for a Greater Greenwood County & Economic Alliance, regrets the loss of these jobs, but sees it as a continuation of a trend across the textile industry. Despite continued growth in other areas across the region, textile manufacturers continue to suffer. Fowler said companies are often quick to lay off workers, but the process of creating new jobs is all too slow.

Attorney: Meeting should’ve been open

District 50 board hasn’t met in public about countersuit

December 13, 2006

By BOBBY HARRELL
Index-Journal staff writer

Greenwood School District 50 should have handled its countersuit differently than it did, according to a South Carolina Press Association attorney.
Jay Bender, attorney for the SCPA, told The Index-Journal Tuesday that the district’s board of trustees should have met in a public session to give their attorneys authorization to countersue Greenwood resident Henry Johnson.
Board of trustees chairwoman Debrah Miller acknowledged the board hasn’t met in public about the countersuit and that the attorneys countersued on behalf of the board. She referred other lawsuit questions to attorney Allen Smith at Childs & Halligan.
Smith said Childs & Halligan decided to proceed with the countersuit on Dec. 4 in response to the lawsuit as required by court rules to protect the district’s interests.
“At a minimum the school board would have been required to meet in a public meeting and vote in public to authorize the attorneys to file suit in the name of the district,” Bender said by e-mail.
Johnson was named in the countersuit by the district’s attorneys at Childs & Halligan, along with the South Carolina Public Interest Foundation, after they sued District 50, superintendent Darrell Johnson and former chairwoman Dru James for its installment purchase bond plan Nov. 3.
The district’s plan would leverage as much as $145 million over a 25-year period to pay for construction of three elementary schools, and renovations and modifications to the rest of the schools in the district.
James said Bender’s comments are just his opinion. Bender is well-versed in the state’s open meetings laws and is considered an expert in that field.
Board vice chairman Frank Coyle said District 50 told Childs & Halligan to “handle” the lawsuit, so the law firm’s representatives came back on Dec. 6 and met with Coyle, Miller and Darrell Johnson to update them about the lawsuit. Coyle said Dec. 6 was the first time he had heard about the countersuit and that there was no meeting before the countersuit was filed.
Bender said no attorney has the ability to file a suit, whether by initial action or by counterclaim, without the client’s approval.
Board member Dan Richardson said the district should have had a public meeting about the countersuit that was advertised and voted on by a majority of the trustees.
He said no two people should have made a decision about the countersuit and that is board policy.
Policy BB: School Board Legal Status of District 50’s board polices states: “All powers of the board lie in its action as a body. Board members acting as individuals have no authority over personnel or school affairs.”
Board member Lary Davis learned about Bender’s comments and sent a reply via e-mail: “I wasn’t aware that attorneys had carte blanche to file lawsuits on behalf of their clients without their permission. It is my opinion that we should rescind this lawsuit against Henry Johnson immediately, and then go about deciding what to do about the fact that it was filed in the first place.”
Superintendent Darrell Johnson referred all questions about the lawsuit to Childs & Halligan.
The law firm is working to resolve the lawsuit in light of the Colleton County decision. South Carolina’s Supreme Court ruled Monday in favor of the School District of Colleton County after it was sued by several Colleton citizen and taxpayer associations over its installment purchase bond plan.
Henry Johnson said Bender’s comments fit in with what he’s alleged in his lawsuit about the district not meeting publicly. Henry Johnson’s attorney, Jim Carpenter, said he agrees with Bender and that District 50’s attorneys were presumptuous to file the countersuit.
Board member James Williams said he didn’t know the board’s procedures on the countersuit, but he knows board members are people of high integrity and wouldn’t hurt the Greenwood community.
“Well, I’m sure I feel that the district has done all it’s supposed to do,” he said.
When asked if the countersuit decision should have been made in public, Williams said people already knew about the countersuit from the newspaper.
Board members Tony Bowers and LeVerne Fuller declined to comment. Board secretary Tom Pritchard was unavailable for comment.

He was Marshall

New film depicts crash that took life of Greenwood man

December 13, 2006

By CHRIS TRAINOR
Index-Journal staff writer

Many people around the United States will never forget Nov. 14, 1970.
That was the day Southern Airlines Flight 932, carrying 37 Marshall University football players, eight Marshall coaches and 25 boosters, crashed in Ceredo, W.Va., while returning from the Thundering Herd’s game against East Carolina in Greenville, N.C.
Those who might have forgotten or have never heard of the tragic accident, along with the uplifting story of the rebuilding of Marshall’s football program and the entire Huntington, W.Va. community, have a chance to see the story unfold on the silver screen.
Warner Bros. is set to release the film “We Are Marshall” nationwide on Dec. 22. Matthew McConaughey stars as coach Jack Hengyel in the film, which details the accident and the resurrection that followed.
As the film’s debut nears, many in the Lakelands area are reminded of a Greenwood connection to the tragedy. Willie Bluford, a Greenwood native who played high school football at Brewer High, was a junior linebacker for Marshall from 1968-70. He was one of the 37 Thundering Herd players killed in the crash.
Bluford’s sister, Betty Smoot, a receptionist for Greenwood School District 50, remembered the atmosphere surrounding the crash.
“It was just a tragedy, a tragedy for the whole community,” Smoot said. “I remember thinking that it couldn’t be true when I heard the news.”
Smoot was 22 at the time. She and some other family members had actually made the trip to East Carolina to watch her brother’s team play the Pirates.
“We made the trip up for that game,” Smoot said, quietly. “That was the last time we ever saw Willie.”
Greenwood Mayor Floyd Nicholson was a teammate of Bluford’s at Brewer. Nicholson graduated from Brewer in 1967, while Bluford finished in 1968. Nicholson was attending South Carolina State at the time of the crash.
“I was just devastated when I got the news back then,” Nicholson said. “Willie was a good friend and a good athlete. He really was a great individual. And Willie was a good student, too. It was a big loss to the community.”
Smoot commented on Bluford’s overwhelming love for sports. She said her brother enjoyed football, baseball, track, weightlifting and any other sporting activity he could get involved in. She recalled, with a great deal of warmth in her voice, that Bluford preferred playing ball and enjoying the company of his teammates more than anything else.
Nicholson said Bluford was, to his knowledge, the first football player from Brewer, an all-black school, to play at an integrated college. Smoot recalled the decision that went into Bluford choosing the Thundering Herd.
“He had offers from Livingstone and some others,” Smoot said. “But he liked Huntington, the town where Marshall is in West Virginia.”
There has been a long build-up to the upcoming film, including an extensive shoot on the Marshall campus. In a September interview with The Index-Journal, Greenwood High School graduate and current Marshall defensive back Zearrick Matthews said the Conference USA school was buzzing about the film crew being on campus, with the release of the film being a hot topic among students.
Matthews and Bluford aren’t the only football connections between Greenwood and Marshall. Greenwood attorney Stephen Geoly played for the Thundering Herd form 1988-90.
“Everybody on campus there knew about the crash, even 18 years later,” Geoly said. “We weren’t taught about it or anything, we just knew. It is something that town and that program has rallied around since then, and the story of the rebuilding of the program lends a certain magic to everything that goes on there.”
Geoly said he was unaware that Bluford was on Flight 932 when he arrived at Marshall. He described his reaction when he researched the topic and found out about Bluford.
“It freaked me out at first,” Geoly said. “I didn’t know anyone from South Carolina was on the team — no less someone from Greenwood, my hometown. It really did surprise me to find out about Willie.”
Geoly said he would like to see a scholarship created in honor of Bluford for the Thundering Herd football team.
Nicholson said he is anxious to see the movie, adding he believes it will be a solid portrayal of events surrounding the crash.
Smoot meanwhile said she does plan to see the film, despite the painful memories it will evoke.
“I do want to see it, very much,” Smoot said. “It hurts to revisit the crash sometimes. But I am so glad that it is being remembered. It has been 36 years since the tragedy, but it is still a story that is touching. I’m happy they have made a movie about the program being rebuilt.”

Eagles stop Deloach

December 13, 2006

By CHRIS TRAINOR
Index-Journal staff writer

Statistics can be deceiving.
At first glance, one might look at Saluda High School basketball star Trevor Deloach’s stats from Tuesday night’s game against Greenwood and think the USC signee had a big game by scoring 28 points and grabbing eight rebounds.
However, anyone who watched the game could tell you different.
Greenwood downed Saluda, 88-71, Tuesday night at Greenwood in a game where the Eagles defense spent most of the game hounding, surrounding and frustrating the Tigers’ star.
“We knew how dangerous Deloach could be,” Greenwood coach Hob Chandler said. “He’s a tremendous talent. We played zone early on, and his supporting cast was killing us from the perimeter. When we switched to man-to-man, it really helped us out.”
While Deloach led all scorers, it was Greenwood senior guard Andre Day that stole the show offensively. The spunky, speedy ball-handler scored 25 points, many coming on fearless, streaking drives down the lane.
“Andre is one of our leaders,” Chandler said. “He’s a senior and he has a lot of experience. He really stepped up tonight and played his best game of the year.”
Day was one of five double-digit scorers for the Eagles. Damarcus Harrison added 17, Sam Montgomery had 13, D.J. Swearinger had 12, and Dexter Syrkett popped in 11.
Denzel Herman dropped in 10 for Saluda.
The contest was close in the first quarter.
The Tigers came out firing from behind the arc. Montae Burno tossed in a pair of first-quarter 3-pointers, with Derrell Coleman firing in another. Meanwhile, the Eagles did most of their work near the hoop. Day split two defenders for a driving finger-roll in the opening minutes and Montgomery made his presence felt knocking down a pair of lay-ups off offensive rebounds.
The Eagles led 16-15 heading to the second quarter.
Greenwood surged into the lead with a burst just before halftime. In one sequence, Montgomery hit a lay-up, Syrkett stole the subsequent inbounds pass and nailed a bank shot. Day then nabbed a steal on the other end moments later and went coast-to-coast for a running scoop shot.
The Eagles led, 42-33, at halftime and never looked back.
The two team will face off again Thursday at Saluda.
“We know they have a great atmosphere there,” Chandler said. “We can’t take anything for granted. (Saluda) coach (Jimmy) Kinard will have them ready to go.”

Lady Eagles overpower Saluda’s Lady Tigers

December 13, 2006

By CHRIS TRAINOR
Index-Journal staff writer

Sometimes, particularly in the realm of girls high school basketball, one team simply overpowers another.
It might be an understatement to say that was the case in Tuesday night’s game between Saluda High School and Greenwood.
The Class AAAA Lady Eagles ripped the Class AA Lady Tigers, 56-18, at Greenwood. The two teams will meet again Thursday night at Saluda.
Greenwood controlled the game from start to finish, displaying particularly strong defensive prowess. The Lady Eagles even managed to hold Saluda scoreless in the third quarter.
“We had been playing a lot of zone this year,” Greenwood coach Susan Thompson said. “Then the other night we tried some man against North Augusta. It worked well, and we went with it again tonight. I thought we got after it pretty good on defense.”
The Lady Eagles used a balanced scoring attack, led by off-guard Kyesha Middleton, who dropped in 12 points. Point guard Vijya Corbett added 10 points.
“Vijya has had to adjust to playing (point guard),” Thompson said. “All of our guards, Vijya and Kyesha and Syteria (Robinson) are playing hard right now.”
Meanwhile, Ashley Proctor led the Lady Tigers with six points, while Kim Springs added four.
Greenwood raced out to a big lead in the first quarter.
Swarming the ball on defense, the Lady Eagles generated one steal after another in the opening frame, turning the takeaways into lay-ups. Driving hoops by Jacena Thompson and Corbett, along with an arching jumpshot from Robinson, helped Greenwood to a 12-0 lead to start the contest.
The Lady Eagles were up 17-4 heading to the second quarter. They were ahead 25-9 at the half and 40-9 by the end of the third quarter.
With eight Lakelands-area teams squaring off Tuesday night, basketball took center stage around area.
“I think these match-ups are great,” Thompson said. “Saluda is close by and its easy to get to one another. It gives fans a chance to see area teams and a lot of the fans know each other. We look forward to Thursday night’s game.”

Wildcats pull off late win

December 13, 2006

By RENALDO STOVER
Index-Journal sports writer

NINETY SIX — The Ninety Six Wildcats boys basketball team hit shots to beat the buzzer at the end of the first and second half on Tuesday night against the Ware Shoals Hornets (0-2), but none was bigger than the shot by Quin McGraw as time ran out giving the Hornets a 62-60 victory.
The Wildcats (3-3) led by as many as 20 points in the game before a furious rally by the Hornets put the outcome in jeopardy until the final buzzer.
“It’s frustrating because we had McCormick by 10 the other night and we blew that,” Wildcats coach Ike Dickey said.
“But I was glad to see our kids handle the adversity. It’s good to win a close one.”
Quin Butler came off the bench to give the Wildcats a boost with 10 points and four rebounds.
He hit the first buzzer beater at the end of the first half as the Wildcats held onto a 37-25 lead.
Tony Lomax finished with 13 points for the Hornets in the loss.
The Hornets came out firing in the second half as they outscored the Wildcats 13-5 to start the third quarter.
By the end of the quarter, the Wildcats’ lead was down to five points.
The action picked up late in the fourth quarter as the Hornets missed on an opportunity to tie the game following two missed free throws by Lomax.
He made up for it though a few seconds later when he made a strong move to the basket to bring the Hornets within one point with 1 minute, 9 seconds remaining in the game.
Latavious Williams hit one of two free throws to tie the game with 6.9 seconds remaining before McGraw’s shot went in as time expired.
“We came through adversity and they played their hearts out,” Hornets coach Joshua Pratt said. “Just to even make it a game after being down by 20 points says a lot about this team.”

Ware Shoals hands Lady Wildcats first loss

December 13, 2006

By RENALDO STOVER
Index-Journal sports writer

NINETY SIX — The Ninety Six Lady Wildcats came into Tuesday night’s game looking to remain undefeated as they faced the Ware Shoals Lady Hornets.
After a sluggish first half in which both teams combined for only 32 points, the Lady Hornets pulled away in the second half on their way to a 47-38 victory.
Senior Nydra Edwards led the Lady Hornets with 13 points while freshman Birdie Keller was unstoppable on the glass, finishing with 16 rebounds to go along with eight points in the victory.
The Lady Wildcats were led by Ashli Washington who finished with 14 points and five rebounds.
Earlier in the week, Lady Hornets’ coach Kem Owens said that her team needed to learn to work together while also playing better defensively if they want to contend for the region this year.
That mentality paid off for the Lady Hornets down the stretch as they were able to pull away after struggling early in the game against the Lady Wildcats’ pressure defense.
“I just told them that defense wins games and I said that you can beat any team as long as you have good defense,” Owens said. “They really came through and played really hard.
The Lady Wildcats came out strong as Sirrena Boyd scored two early baskets to help coach Donna Leopard’s squad take a 4-0 lead.
Edwards put the Lady Hornets on the scoreboard with a lay-up with just under five minutes left in the first quarter.
Both teams struggled to score for the remainder of the quarter before finally getting things going over the final three quarters.
During that span, the Lady Hornets outscored the Lady Wildcats 41-31 on their way to victory.
“Free throws killed us, we didn’t protect the basketball,” Lady Wildcats coach Donna Leopard said. “We’ve got to work on our rebounding.”

Calhoun Falls makes it a game late against Emerald

December 13, 2006

By MIKE ROSIER
Index-Journal staff writer

Emerald High School’s Kadarron Anderson (3) attempts to make a shot over Calhoun Falls’ Justin Gilchrist (5) during Tuesday night’s game.

Emerald boys basketball coach Robin Scott reminded his players at halftime on Tuesday of exactly the same thing he told them the last time they’d faced Calhoun Falls just over a week ago: it’s not over.
Just as they had done in an earlier meeting this season, the Emerald boys basketball team jumped out to an early lead over the Calhoun Falls Blue Flashes.
This time it was a 13-0 stretch off the opening tip instead of a 17-3 run in the game at Calhoun Falls.
The Vikings would never trail in the contest — and despite a spirited late rally from the visiting Blue Flashes, just as they had done at home — and would pull away over the final two minutes to take a 56-39 victory.
“We jumped out with a lead on them the last time we played them, but they’re scrappy and they fight,” Scott said.
“There was no quit in (Calhoun Falls) tonight. When you get up big on someone you think you can have your way with them and I told them that it could be a game real quick.”
Emerald’s Trey Woolridge led all scorers with 16 points. He was followed by teammate Kadarron Anderson’s 14 points.
The Vikings spread the floor on offense in response to the Blue Flashes’ half court zone trap defense, and the move worked, as crisp passing on the interior led to several easy buckets for Emerald early.
“We did that in response to what they were doing on defense,” Scott said.
“Emerald is a good team that is well coached and they’re just too big for us,” Calhoun Falls coach Nield Gordon said.
“We have a lot of young players out there and that makes a difference. Turnovers and three missed lay-ups hurt us. I think when we get in our league, we’ll be okay. We just got off to such a bad start. We just have to settle down.”
Calhoun Falls couldn’t seem to keep a handle on the ball, frittering away numerous scoring opportunities.
“We didn’t do a couple of things well so we definitely have a couple of things to go over in practice,” Scott said.
“They played hard, we just have to cut down on mistakes.”
Just as in the prior meeting, the Blue Flashes — though a noticeably shorter team — held their own on the boards with the soaring Vikings (with two players 6-8 and taller).
Eventually, the Blue Flashes scrapped the match-up zone for a straight zone look to cut off the interior scoring.
The move slowed the progress of the Vikings, but Calhoun Falls couldn’t mount a charge of their own offensively until appeared that it was too late.
The Blue Flashes cut the lead to nine points at 46-37 with 2:50 left and had a shot to get closer, but could not secure the rebound despite three cracks at the loose ball.
It would cost them dearly as Emerald charged down the court on the break with Wince Woolridge nailing a jumper that sealed the affair, just before a Trey Woolridge dunk (one of two on the night) excited the home crowd.
“Fortunately for us we had enough points to hold on,” Scott said. “If our big guys would just come alive we would own the boards. (Ka)Darron has stepped up. As a senior, he’s been just what we needed for our team.”

Lady Vikes get easy win over CF

December 13, 2006

By MIKE ROSIER
Index-Journal staff writer

The Emerald varsity girls basketball team accomplished several things on Tuesday in its game against Calhoun Falls, but nothing as important as earning a well-deserved rest.
Following a 63-26 drubbing of the Lady Blue Flashes in a physical, sloppy effort plagued by mistakes on both sides, the Lady Vikings can now take a breather until next Wednesday’s game at Greenwood.
Anarie Duckett’s team has earned it.
“We haven’t had a full practice in more than a week because we’ve been playing so much,” Duckett said. “They’re kind of tired and a couple of them showed that tonight.”
Calhoun Falls head coach Risha Bomar had vowed a much better effort from her team following 30-point margin of victory in Calhoun Falls for the Lady Vikings, calling the score “unacceptable.”
For the first quarter, the Lady Blue Flashes responded. The game was messy, but the Lady Vikings were just as turnover prone on offense as were the Lady Blue Flashes while battling Emerald’s full-court pressure.
To their credit, the Lady Vikings remained calm.
“I told them to just keep playing good defense and that good things would happen,” Duckett said. “I told them to keep working hard and be patient on offense. We made a few adjustments, but nothing big.”
Emerald then outscored Calhoun Falls 15-4 in the second quarter and never looked back.
Freshman Emerald standout Anicia Dotson led all scorers with a game-high 14 points, followed by teammates Shenna Clark and Brittany Connor with 11 points each.
Brittany Obot paced Calhoun Falls with nine points.
“We changed our defense a little bit this time (1-3-1 zone) from what we played them the last time (3-2 zone) and tried to do a few things different,” Duckett said. “We also, on our press, tried to make sure and cover the swing pass back to (Brittany Obot) because she’s a good little player.”
Bomar was unavailable for comment following the game.
“We haven’t played at Greenwood in several years so that will be a tough game down there,” Duckett said. “I’m pleased with the way we’re developing. There have been a few games we should have won that we lost, like two close games with Abbeville. That’s become something of a rivalry for us, like Greenwood, and those games are emotional. Hopefully when we play Greenwood we can overcome the emotion.”

Opinion

District 50’s Board has a lot of work left to do

December 13, 2006

The South Carolina Supreme Court has ruled that an installment purchase bond plan for the Colleton County school district is constitutional. That, naturally, leads to a presumption that the controversy over a similar plan by Greenwood School District 50 also will end in favor of District 50 trustees.
The Greenwood District has, of course, proposed selling $145 million in bonds to be paid off over a 25-year period. That has resulted in legal action by opponents and a counter claim by the trustees.
Regardless of the outcome of both actions, District 50 trustees have their work cut out for them. There is, no matter what anyone might argue to the contrary, a question of trust that needs to be addressed by the Board.

TOO MANY TAXPAYERS IN the district are suspicious of how the public Board transacts public business.
No one should misconstrue the depth of widespread public concern and doubt over how the local bond situation has been handled. There were questions from the beginning and there still are for many taxpayers.
It would be foolhardy for anyone, trustee or otherwise, to think that only a few people have been and are concerned about the way it has all been handled. Just because there have been times when it appeared interest was absent doesn’t mean it’s so. Public concern is indeed significant, and it comes from various public directions.

IN ALL FAIRNESS, THOUGH, concern over how the School Board conducts business and treats constituents is not peculiar to the present Board of Trustees. There has been considerable frustration - sometimes anger - over how previous trustees have treated the public at times.
Too often too many taxpayers have come away from District 50 Board meetings complaining they had been ignored, bullied or just simply insulted.
There are sure to be some who disagree with this assessment. That, however, will only reinforce the feelings of rejection that so many residents of District 50 have felt in the past, not to mention the present.
These are public schools at issue. If the public believes it is alienated, there’s a bigger problem than the sale of bonds.

Obituaries

Loretta Flora

Loretta Basinger Flora, 64, of 201 Harvest Lane, died Saturday, Dec. 9, 2006 at the Hospice House.
Born in Salisbury, NC, she was a daughter of Eva Gregory Basinger and the late Paul Cecil Basinger. She was retired from the Department of Veteran Affairs and was a member of Southside Baptist Church, Salisbury.
Surviving is her mother of Salisbury; a daughter, Angela Flora Tinkler and her husband, Dr. Stuart A. Tinkler, of Greenwood; a son, William Herbert Flora and his wife, Kristine Kelly Flora, of Raleigh, NC; four grandchildren, William Paul Flora and Eleanor Mary Flora, both of Raleigh and Mary Stuart Tinkler and Robert Phillips Tinkler, both of Greenwood.
Services will be at 11 a.m. Saturday at Lyerly Funeral Home Chapel, Salisbury, with burial following in Chestnut Hill Cemetery.
The family will receive friends at Lyerly Funeral Home on Friday from 7 to 8:30 p.m.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to HospiceCare of the Piedmont, Hospice House, 408 W. Alexander Avenue, Greenwood, SC 29646.
Harley Funeral Home and Crematory is in charge of local arrangements.
Online condolences may be sent to the family by visiting www.harleyfuneralhome.com.

Joshua Harling

HODGES — Joshua Harling, 55, of 407 Freetown Road, died Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2006 at his home.
The family is at 1104 Gary Road, Hodges.
Services will be announced by Percival-Tompkins Funeral Home, Greenwood.

John B. Harris III

GEORGETOWN — John Bunyan Harris III, 54, died Monday, Dec. 11, 2006 at his home.
Services will be announced by the Georgetown Chapel of Mayer Funeral Home.

Nita Linnenkohl

Helen Juanita “Nita” Wilson Linnenkohl, 77, resident of 400 Highway 221 South, widow of Clyde Estes Linnenkohl, died Dec. 9, 2006 at the Self Regional Medical Center.
Born in Greenwood July 1, 1929, she was a daughter of the late Paul Brooks Wilson, Sr. and Margaret Hollingsworth Wilson. Mrs. Linnenkohl had attended nursing school and owned Linnenkohl Upholstery. She and her husband had lived in Augusta, GA, for over 20 years before returning to Greenwood. A member of the Order of the Eastern Star where she had held many various positions, she was also a member of First Mt. Moriah Baptist Church where she was a member of the Joy Sunday School Class.
Survivors include three daughters, Nancy Ann Donaldson of Charleston, Deborah Lee Blohm and Lisa Linnenkohl Gowan, both of Greenwood; 9 grandchildren; one great-grandchild; and sister, Nancy Janet Wilson. She was preceded in death by son, Robert Michael Linnenkohl, and brothers, Paul Brooks Wilson, Jr., Thomas Allen Wilson and William R. “Bill” Wilson.
Memorial services will be conducted Wednesday at 11 a.m. from the Chapel of Blyth Funeral Home, with Reverend Karen Radcliffe and Reverend Bryant Sims officiating. Burial will follow in Greenwood Memorial Gardens.
The family is at the home and will receive friends Wednesday from 10-11 a.m. at the funeral home.
Those desiring may make memorials to the Scottish Rite Childhood Language Center, 7230 Garners Ferry Road, Columbia, SC 29209.
For additional information and online condolences please visit www.blythfuneralhome.com.
Blyth Funeral Home & Cremation Services is assisting the Linnenkohl family.

Willie H. Lomax

ABBEVILLE — Mr. Willie H. Lomax, age 84, widower of Carrie Smith Lomax, died Dec. 9, 2006 at Richard M. Campbell Veterans Nursing Home. He was born in Abbeville County and was the son of the late James H. Lomax, Sr. and Georgia Harper Lomax. He was a member of St. Peter A.M.E. Church, where he was a former Trustee.
Also, he was a member of St. Mary Masonic Lodge No. 161, Son of Aide No. 36, a U.S. Army veteran of World War II and a retired employee of Monsanto Plant.
Surviving are a son, John F. Thomas of Anderson, SC; brothers, Edward G. Lomax of Boston, Mass., and Charles S. Lomax of Abbeville, SC; sisters, Rev. Ruth L. Cosby and Louise Hazzard, both of Abbeville, SC, Selena O. Finley of Bridgeport, Conn., Doris McIntyre and Virginia O. Jackson, both of Detroit, Mich.
Services will be Thursday, Dec. 14, 2006 at 2 p.m. at St. Peter A.M.E. Church, with Rev. Carnell Morton officiating. Burial will be in Forest Lawn Memory Garden. The body will be placed in the church at 1 p.m. The family is at the home of a brother Charles S. Lomax, 163 Old Hodges Road. Brown and Walker Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

Levester Peterson

NINETY SIX — Levester Peterson, 71, of 116 Davis Drive, widower of Tressie Stevens Peterson, died Monday, Dec. 11, 2006 at Saluda Nursing Center.
The family is at the home of a son Terry (Lozetta) Peterson, 554 Scurry Island Road, Chappells.
Services will be announced by Robinson & Son Mortuary Inc.

Robert James Williams

Robert James Williams, 68, husband of Georgia Mae Rapley Williams, of 1515 S. Main St., died Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2006, at Self Regional Medical Center.
The family is at the home.
Parks Funeral Home is in charge.

CORRECTION

The obituaries for Nita Linnenkohl and Loretta Flora were inadvertently omitted from Tuesday’s paper.
The Index-Journal regrets the error.