Local residents turn thoughts to pontiff

April 2, 2005

From staff reports

A globe-trotting pontiff who spread good will throughout the world, but was not afraid to tackle the tough issues of good and evil on Earth, is viewed fondly by Catholics throughout Greenwood and the Lakelands.
Our Lady of Lourdes, a Catholic church in Greenwood, will honor Pope John Paul II with two Masses today, at 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Church members flowed in and out of the Our Lady of Lourdes’ new sanctuary following a Friday morning Mass, as church members let the inevitability of the 84-year-old pontiff’s failing health sink in.
“At Mass this morning,” said Father Richard Harris, “a few people were crying – praying that if it is God’s will for him to die at this time, that he will at least grant him a peaceful death. He’s been an example of suffering to the church and to the world.”
“We invite our friends from other faith communities to join us in prayer for Pope John Paul II,” said Bishop Robert J. Baker, of The Diocese of Charleston, in a statement.
Hal Laine, pastor of Westview Baptist Church, said the pope’s slipping nearer to death contrasted with the week’s other high-profile death, that of Terri Schiavo, a brain-damaged Florida woman whose case became an epic right-to-life battle.
“In contract to the Schiavo case – which a lot of us have been following – with the care given and with the extraordinary attention given to the pope, that’s the kind of thing we’d hope each person would receive as they go to the end of their lives.”
The Rev. Peter W. Hawes, of Episcopal Church of the Resurrection in Greenwood, said the Pope has been a “magnificent leader” for Catholics for many years.
“He has taken some courageous stands through the years especially as he was seeking peace around the world,” he said. “What he has done for the fight for all life has been very brave.”
“He has been a wonderful pope. He is a very peaceful and kind person. It didn’t matter who you were, he welcomed you,” said Greenwood resident Susan McLaughlin, a Roman Catholic.
McLaughlin had the opportunity to see the pope when he visited Columbia in the mid-1980s.
She said the experience made her cry.
“I’m crying now. It is just a very emotional time.”
Though emotional, McLaughlin said the pope’s passing would also be a time of celebration, as those of the Catholic faith and others around the world remember his life and legacy.
“Our religion believes that this is a resurrection – it is a very happy thing. He’s going to Heaven, and we should celebrate his life – and his life has been a wonderful life.
“I have said my prayers and made peace. There is nothing wrong with dying, and the Lord taking him when he is ready,” she said. “I pray that he doesn’t suffer, and that the Lord is in charge.”
“He’s undergoing a lot of pain and suffering. In this case the church is already praying for the relief of all pain and suffering and praying to God that His will be done in the pope’s case,” said Father Allam Marreddy, who works with Catholic churches in Abbeville and McCormick.
In 1982 Marreddy attended a Mass conducted by the pope as a young priest in Chennai, India.
“He made a big impression on me,” he said. “The way he was celebrating the Mass and his inspiring words. Another thing that impressed me was his devotion to Mary, the mother of Jesus.”
On Thursday Pope John Paul II developed a high fever brought on by an infection. He suffered septic shock and heart problems during treatment for the infection. Still, as night fell Friday at the Vatican, the faithful clung to hope that the pope who had survived a gunshot wound in an assassination attempt and Parkinson’s disease would pull through.
“I think the graveness of the situation now is causing a lot of concern. We don’t want to see anyone suffer,” Father Harris said. “It’s hard to give up those in our lives that we love and care for.”

Index-Journal regional editor Vic MacDonald and staff writers Wallace McBride, Tasha Steimer and Megan Varner contributed to this story.

Tournament tested

McLaughlin prefers life in Greenwood to career playing pro basketball

April 2, 2005

By MICHAEL STONE
Index-Journal sports editor

For Bob McLaughlin, the quiet life in Greenwood is the good life.
The 67-year-old owner of Big Mac’s Tire Store has lived in the Emerald City for more than 3 1/2 decades, raised his family here and calls Greenwood “paradise.”
And McLaughlin ought to know.
More than 40 years ago, the sport of basketball took McLaughlin across the United States, Europe, the Middle East and the Far East.
But when setting up his business in the early 1970s with wife Susan and their four children — Maureen, Mary Pat, Kevin and Tom — McLaughlin knew there was no better place than Greenwood.
“We were looking for the ideal spot of us, with the quality of life we wanted,” McLaughlin said. “After being away, coming back to Greenwood is like coming back to paradise.”
In his young years, basketball took McLaughlin around the nation.
Born in hoops-crazy Indiana, McLaughlin’s ability got him on the basketball team at Loyola University in New Orleans.
McLaughlin played three sports for Loyola, baseball and golf, were the others, but it was basketball where he stood out.
McLaughlin finished his career with more than 1,000 points, is one of 18 Wolfpack players to do so.
He totaled 1,103 in three years because by NCAA rules he wasn’t allowed to play on the varsity as a freshman.
As a starting guard, he twice helped the Wolfpack to berths in the NCAA Tournament in 1957 and 1958.
And while Loyola’s stay in the tourney lasted just one game each year, he did get to play against some of the college game’s greatest legends.
“The tournament was a lot different back then; it wasn’t as big a deal,” McLaughlin said. “There were only 24 teams (in the tourney), eight conference champions and then at-large teams from different regions of the country.
“We played Oklahoma A&M one year, which is now Oklahoma State. They were coached by Hank Iba, and one of their guards was Eddie Sutton.”
Iba was the first coach to win back-to-back NCAA titles, in 1947-48, and had 767 victories when he retired, then the third-most in NCAA history.
Sutton is the current coach at Oklahoma State, with more than 750 career wins and three Final Four appearances.
In February, McLaughlin’s 1958 team was inducted into the Loyola Hall of Fame.
After graduating from Loyola, McLaughlin had the opportunity to play in the NBA with Detroit, but passed to take a job with Goodyear and played for Seattle in the National Industrial Basketball League.
After two seasons in Seattle, the league became the National AAU Basketball League and McLaughlin left to work for the company’s headquarters in Akron, Ohio.
But he didn’t stay in Akron long.
At Goodyear’s urging, McLaughlin represented the U.S.A. in 1962 in a three-month tour of the Middle East and Europe, playing exhibition games and putting on basketball clinics in places such as Iran, Iraq, Turkey, Lebanon, France and Italy.
The following year, McLaughlin was part of another tour that went to Japan, China, Taiwan, Singapore, the Philippines, Burma Indonesia and Vietnam.
In his two tours, the U.S.A. never lost a game.
“A lot of places we went they didn’t even have a gym, and we played on a concrete floor,” McLaughlin said. “One time we played in a goat field and had to dribble between the hoof prints.”
While McLaughlin retired from competitive basketball after his second tour, he still enjoys the game, has been watching the NCAA Tournament and plans on watching the semifinal games in St. Louis tonight.
And he laughs when he hears that today’s college players aren’t as good as the ones in his day. “It’s so different; I could play about five minutes in today’s game,” McLaughlin said. “All the defensive pressure, the intensity of every possession. We didn’t play like that. We walked the ball up the court.
“Players are so much faster, so much more athletic. We all would have fouled out every game.”

Opinion

Little things like signal help prevent road rage

April 2, 2005

Folks around Greenwood notice it all the time, really. Actually it can be seen anywhere in South Carolina, for that matter.
Drivers lame of brain – or maybe, to say it kindly, inattentive – do a lot of curious things at the wheels of moving vehicles. One of their oddest departures from good sense has to do with signaling for turns and lane changes.
It’s more accurate to say not signaling ….. not signaling at all or not signaling soon enough to give the following driver a timely clue that something’s going to happen.
Those who simply don’t give any signal are a class apart.
Their behavior may spring from one or more of a number of things ….. plain carelessness, day-dreaming, impoliteness, indifference to the problems of others on the road, or in some cases, a kind of to-heck-with-everyone-else arrogance.

WHATEVER THE CAUSE, failing to signal is a dangerous business that ought to get more attention, not to mention draw more tickets from law enforcement personnel.
But what about the well-meaning driver who starts around a corner at the last possible moment ….. and then remembers to flip on the turn signal when the turn is half completed? What of the driver who serenely glides into the next lane, without notice and starts flashing the turn signal only when the maneuver is almost complete?
These, of course, are cases of what might be called belated good intentions.
The solution, of course, lies in practicing good driving habits, scrupulously followed even when no one else appears to be on the road. As they say, practice makes perfect, and there’s no better place to try to be perfect than when driving.

THE TURN SIGNAL IS intended as a warning device to let other drivers know when you plan to do something, not an indicator to show you’re doing it when it’s already obvious to anyone around.
Habitually using the turn signals properly as a timely warning averts much confusion, naturally. More than anything else, though, it just might some day save a life ….. even your own.
Rudeness on the roads has, through the years, developed into something that has caused us to coin a new phrase: road rage.
Apparently there’s more than one way courteous driving helps saves lives.

Editorial expression in this feature represents our own views.
Opinions are limited to this page.

Obituaries

Rhonda Boland

WARE SHOALS — Rhonda F. Boland, 50, of 239 Free Bridge Road, died Friday, April 1, 2005 at her home.
Born in Ware Shoals, she was a daughter of Marlene Vaughn Boland and the late Bobby E. Boland. She attended the Church of God of Prophecy.
Survivors include her mother of the home; a daughter, Lisa Rogers of Spartanburg; a sister, Susan Babb of Donalds; four brothers, Robert Boland of Donalds, Mickey Boland, Barry Boland and Brian Boland, all of Ware Shoals; and five grandchildren.
Services are 3 p.m. Sunday at Church of God of Prophecy, conducted by Bishop Larry McCall and the Rev. Mark Lowe. Burial is in Oakbrook Memorial Park.
Pallbearers are Robert, Mickey, Barry, Brian, Rodney and Logan Boland and Lester Madden Jr.
Visitation is 6-8 tonight at Parker-White Funeral Home.
The family is at the home.
Parker-White Funeral Home is in charge.

Sarah Jacobs Jackson

NEWARK, N.J. — Sarah Mae Jacobs Jackson, 85, formerly of Asheville, N.C., widow of Norman Jackson, died Tuesday, March 22, 2005 in Newark.
Born in Greenwood, she was a daughter of the late Frances Griffin Chappelle and Wilson Jacobs. She was educated in the Asheville school system and became a registered nurse. She worked at the Pentagon during World War II and moved to Newark with her husband. Studying in New York City, she received a graduate degree in early childcare and studied cosmetology to become a beautician. She was a member of Metropolitan Baptist Church, participating in many church auxiliaries and activities.
Survivors include her brother and caregiver, Joseph of Newark.
Services are 2 p.m. Sunday at Ray & Allen Funeral Service, 127 McDowell St., Asheville, N.C., conducted by Minister Rod Whiteside. Burial is in Riverside Cemetery.
Visitation is 1:30-2 Sunday at the funeral home.
Ray & Allen Funeral Service, Asheville, is in charge.
Online condolences may be sent to the family at RayandAllenFS@aol.com

Julius Rowe

SALUDA, SC – Julius Rowe, 78, of 881 Batesburg Hwy., died Thursday, March 31, 2005 at Lexington Medical Center.
Born in Saluda County, and a son of the late Buster and Alien Roe Rowe, he was the husband of the late Maudie Lee Evans Rowe, Mr. Rowe was a former employee with Epting & Ballinger Paving Company and Eagle Construction Company. He was a farmer and was a member of the Fish Fry Club and Emory United Methodist Church.
Surviving are two sons, James A. “Jimmy” Rowe and Eddie M. Rowe both of Saluda, a daughter, Sylvia R. Tollison of Greenwood, a sister, Virginia Mae Whittle of Saluda, four half brothers, Mark Rowe of Greenwood, Gene Rowe of Jasper, FL., John Rowe of Jennings, FL. and Luke Rowe of Sumter, two half sisters, Annie Maude Cockrell of Las Vegas and Rosemary Rowe of Inman, ten grandchildren and 10 great grandchildren, and a special friend, Lizzie Mae Corder.
The family will receive friends from 6 until 8PM, Saturday, April 2. 2005 at Ramey Funeral Home.
Funeral services will be 3PM, Sunday, April 3, 2005 at Emory United Methodist Church with the Rev. Joyce Murphy and Rev. John Notter officiating. Interment will follow in the church cemetery.
PAID OBITUARY

Louise Weeks Taylor

Louise Fain Weeks Taylor, 88, widow of Clarence A. Weeks, died Thursday, March 31, 2005 at Self Regional Medical Center.
Born in Montgomery County, Va., she was a daughter of the late Charles Edward and Elsie Mae Price Fain. She retired from Greenwood Mills, Harris Plant and was a member of Harris Baptist Church, where she was a member of the T.E.L. Sunday School Class. She was twice married, second to the late Paul Taylor.
Survivors include two sons, Carl Weeks and James “Jimmy” Weeks, both of Greenwood; two daughters, Allene Bowie Abrams and Lena Scott, both of Greenwood; four sisters, Kathleen McCoy, Elsie Cox and Libby Harrison, all of Christiansburg, Va., and Deloris Porter of Fort Chiswell, Va.; a brother, Howard Fain of North Augusta; eight grandchildren; and nine great-grandchildren.
Services are 3 p.m. Sunday at Harley Funeral Home, conducted by the Rev. Frank Thomas. Burial is in Greenwood Memorial Gardens.
Pallbearers are Chip Bowie, Danny Hazel, Daryl Key, Scott Abrams, Erik Bowie and Mark Ritchie.
Honorary escorts are members of the Harris Baptist Church T.E.L. Sunday School Class.
Visitation is 6-8 tonight at the funeral home.
The family is at the home of a daughter Lena Scott, 1060 Burnett Road.
Harley Funeral Home is in charge.
Online condolences may be sent to the family at www.harleyfuneralhome.com