Final goodbyes

Teacher, family killed in crash memorialized during public ceremony

January 13, 2005

By SHAVONNE POTTS
Index-Journal staff writer

NINETY SIX — The loss of the Strom family was evident to those who assembled to honor its memories through tears — and sometimes laughter.
Many gathered Wednesday night in the Ninety Six High gymnasium to honor the lives of James Strom, wife Robin and their two children, Brittney and Bradley, who were killed in a plane crash Jan. 7.
“We know that this family touched many lives. We’re supposed to take the impact that this family had on our lives and impact others,” said the Rev. Chuck Sprouse, pastor of Ninety Six First Baptist Church.
As the service got under way, many teachers and staff spoke of the kind of teacher, mother and Christian Robin was.
Ninety Six Primary School Principal Cathy Duncan spoke about the good example Robin showed to others.
“I think Robin would want us to reminisce, but she has finally gone home to be with the Lord,” she said.
Duncan talked about how Robin was unselfish in giving her time to her family and others.
She said Robin made many calls to co-workers who were home sick and also sent get-well cards to them.
Robin’s brother, Cory Bradley, spoke of a time when he was sent to live with his sister and her husband.
Cory Bradley had gotten a less-than-satisfactory report card in school and had no intentions of informing his sister.
After finding out from his teachers what his grades were, Robin’s intent was to punish him with doing the dishes or receiving a spanking.
“I said I didn’t want either,” Bradley said.
Cory Bradley was sent to his room to think about his choices, and, soon after, “Robin had me in a headlock while James spanked me,” he said.
For several moments, as students and teachers alike read poems and shared their memories about the family, a calm quietness filled the room and the only sound that could be heard was the muffled sobs.
“I think I can speak for the whole fifth grade and maybe the whole school when I say ‘I miss Mrs. Strom,’” said Ninety Six Elementary student Jordan Raines.
Jane Calhoun, principal of Ninety Six Elementary, spoke about how Robin Strom had various animals in her classroom.
“Pretty often the animals would roam free,” she said amid laughter.
Gerald Robinson, former superintendent for Greenwood School District 52, said that many times when Robin wanted to work on things for school she would stay late and even return on the weekends.
“She came so often, I decided to give her a key,” he said with a smile.
Students, teachers and parents shared memories they’d written about the family, expressing their sentiments in their own way, saying about them that Brittney was “uncompromising in her faith and had a “desire to help others.”
Several students said Bradley Strom “loved singing in the chorus” and was “kind to others.”
To many who knew her, Robin Strom was a “practical joker” and “loved her coffee,” while James “devoted himself to his family” and showed “concern for others.”
“There was not an unkind word said about this family,” said the Rev. Chris Stansell, pastor of Ninety Six Pentecostal Holiness Church.
Brenda Norris, of Greenwood, said she tried to explain to her son, Jamie, a student of Robin’s, about his loss in saying that Robin would not want him to be sad and that she would want the children to continue their education.
Robin lived in McCormick and was a former member of the county council there. James was the owner of Strom Development Co., Birchtree Storage in Greenwood, four car washes and worked for the U.S. Postal Service in McCormick.
Brittney was a junior at Ninety Six High, a member of the soccer team, cross country squad and a cheerleader. Bradley Strom was a sixth-grader at Edgewood Middle. He was also a member of the Honors Chorus and the band.

Shavonne Potts covers general assignments in Greenwood and the Lakelands. She can be reached at 223-1811, ext. 3306, or: spotts@indexjournal.com.

Frances May

GREENWOOD – Frances Corley May, 84, resident of 16 Royal Oak Drive, wife of J. Carl May, died January 11, 2005 at Self Regional Medical Center.
Born in Greenwood, April 24, 1920, she was a daughter of the late Abner V. and Minona Murrah Corley. Mrs. May co-founded May Jewelers’ of Greenwood along with her husband in 1950 and was a member of South Main Street Baptist Church.
Surviving in addition to her husband of the home are a daughter, Betty Jean May of Whitten Center in Clinton and a son and daughter-in-law. Jimmy and Margaret S. May of Ninety Six, two brothers, Jamie Corley and Maurice Corley, both of Greenwood, a sister, Nona Lee Vaughn of Greenwood, a grandson, Tripp, and wife Melanie May of Ninety Six and two great-grandchildren, Katie Beth May and James May, both of Ninety Six.
Funeral services will be conducted 3:00 PM Thursday from the BIyth Funeral Home Chapel with Rev. Richard McWhite and Rev. David Corbitt officiating.
Entombment will be in Greenwood Memorial Gardens Mausoleum.
Pallbearers will be Howard Vaughn, Larry Vaughn, Bob Corley, Vince Corley, Steve Corley, Jimmy Corley, Joey Crocker and Rufus May.
The family is at the home of Jimmy and Margaret May, 2216 Ninety Six Highway and will receive friends at the funeral home from 1:30 to 3:00 Thursday afternoon.
Memorials may be made to South Main Street Baptist Church Building Fund, PO Box 1093, Greenwood, SC 29648 or to Whitten Center, 28373 Columbia Highway, Clinton, SC 29325.
For additional information please visit www.blythfuneralhome.com
BIyth Funeral Home is assisting the May family.
PAID OBITUARY

Sim ‘S.T.’ Reed

McCORMICK — Sim “S.T.” Reed, 85, husband of Ann Bennett Reed, died Tuesday, Jan. 11, 2005 in Keysville, Ga.
Born in Lincoln County, Ga., he was a son of the late John and Elsie Spires Reed. He as a World War II Army veteran and retired from Rocky River Mill. He lived most of his life in Lincolnton, Ga., and McCormick and five years in Wrens, Ga. He was a member of Whitehall Church of God.
Survivors include his wife of Wrens; a son, Thomas Wayne Reed of Farmington, Mich.; a daughter, Lannette “Annette” Simmons of Wrens; three brothers, Grady Reed and Herbert Reed, both of Lincolnton and John Reed of Washington, Ga.; three sisters, Katherine Tuten of Alma, Ga., Carolyn Fletcher of Lincolnton and Shirley Hancock of Kinnelon, N.J.; nine grandchildren; 19 great-grandchildren; and two great-great-grandchildren.
Graveside services are 2 p.m. Saturday at Martin’s Crossroads Congregational Holiness Church Cemetery, Lincolnton, Highway 220, conducted by the Revs. Frank Cantrell and E.F. Thasher.
Visitation is graveside after the services.
The family is at the home of Lannette Simmons, Wrens.
Strom Funeral Home is in charge.

Johnnie Mae Whatley

Johnnie Mae Whatley, 85, of 618 Taggart St., died Wednesday, Jan. 12, 2005 at her home.
Born in Greenwood County, she was a daughter of the late Johnny and Ida Jacobs Whatley. She was formerly employed in housekeeping at Self Memorial Hospital. She was a member of Old Mount Zion Baptist Church and the Senior Choir and Missionary Society of the church.
She was the last member of her immediate family. Survivors include a cousin of the home, Ronnie Smith.
Services are 11 a.m. Saturday at Robinson & Son Mortuary, conducted by the Rev. Clyde Cannon. Burial is in Old Mount Zion Baptist Church Cemetery, Epworth.
Pallbearers and flower bearers are friends of the family.
The family is at the home of a nephew, Stanley Backus, 620 Taggart St.
Robinson & Son Mortuary Inc. is in charge.
Online condolences may be sent to the family at robson@emeraldis.com

Annie Ruth Gill White

ALLENDALE — Annie Ruth Gill White, 80, of 3630 Concord Church Road, died Wednesday, Jan. 12, 2005 at Allendale County Hospital, Fairfax.
Services will be announced by Cave Funeral Service Inc.

Setting a good example

GHS girls basketball player understands importance of role

January 13, 2005

By RON COX
Index-Journal sports writer

Her individual statistics are hardly overwhelming, but you can’t underscore the importance of the role that Jennifer Bazzle plays for the Greenwood High School girls basketball team.
Despite averaging little more than one point and one rebound a game in a sparing amount of court time, Bazzle is one of two senior captains for the Lady Eagles and is one of the more respected players on the squad.
“She definitely is a leader on this team,” said senior co-captain and starting power forward Ashley Latham, who averages about nine points a game. “You have to be an example, and you have to be willing to work hard. She does that all.
“She doesn’t expect to get out there all the time, but every day she shows up to practice with a great attitude and is ready to work.”
Leading scorer and starting point guard Ashly Chandler agrees.
“Even thought she doesn’t play a lot, people really do look up to her,” said Chandler, who averages 13 points and six rebounds a night.
“She lets people know what to do, and they do it. A good leader is somebody who’s not afraid to tell somebody the right way to do things. She’s not scared about what people have to say to her. I look at Jennifer just like having another coach.”
Bazzle, a standout on the Lady Eagles’ softball team, takes her two basketball roles, both as a player and a captain, quite seriously.
As a player, the senior knows on game day that she will see more of the action from the sidelines than she will from the court, while at practice, she understands that few plays are designed with her in mind.
However, when Bazzle’s on the court during a game or working with the team at practice, she has but one goal in mind.
“I’m here to make the team better,” the second-year varsity player said. “When coach puts me out there, I just have to go out and try my hardest.
“I just want to set a good example for my teammates. I don’t care if I get playing time, as long as I keep a good positive attitude.”
Greenwood coach Susan Thompson credits her captain’s altruistic nature on the basketball court to her grounded sense of self-esteem.
“Her upbringing and her nature probably have allowed her to be the young lady she is, but you have to have enough self-confidence to take the role she has on this team,” she said.
“Jennifer knows her role, and she still comes here everyday at practice and busts her butt to get better everyday. To me she’s a better leader, because she’s not getting as much out of this personally, as other people are, but she knows that the team is getting better.”
The coach got to see Bazzle’s leadership skills well before the season even started.
Since Thompson spent much of the fall sports season coaching her first boys and girls swim team, she wasn’t able to devote as much time as she wanted to the off-season conditioning for those prospective basketball players that weren’t playing volleyball.
So, Bazzle took charge.
The senior got together a couple of teammates to run with her after school. And pretty soon after, there were as many as 13 girls going through a specifically guided workout program directed by the captain.
“She set it up,” Thompson said. “I ran it one or two times, but once I put it out there to her, she just took control of it.”
Bazzle felt, as a captain and with Latham playing volleyball, it was something a good leader would do. “I knew that we needed to start and I knew that coach Thompson was in swimming, so, I asked Ashly if she would run with me and then I put on the bulletin board that if anyone wanted to join, they could,” said Bazzle, whose sister Rebekah, a junior, was a member of Thompson’s Lady Eagles swim team.
“Then coach asked me to continue it.”
But the role-playing captain position that the senior holds now does have its drawbacks.
As she spends this week practicing and playing with the basketball team, she is unable to lead the first week of conditioning of the sport she feels she’s the best at and the sport where she’s the lone returning senior: softball.
“It’s going to be harder, because I’ll be coming into the middle of their season,” Bazzle said. “Some of them are not going to know me. So, they may think I’m bossy or something. So, I think I’ll have to lead more by example on the field, unlike building trust like I did with the basketball team.”

Ron Cox covers prep sports for The Index-Journal. He can be reached: ronc@indexjournal.com

Observations ... on entertainment

January 13, 2005

Nothing much has been heard from country music’s Dixie Chicks since they told an audience in England they were embarrassed because President Bush was from their home state of Texas. There’s no doubt they took their lumps for their brashness and they haven’t had any records on the charts for some time.
Americans have a way of forgiving, though, and the singing Chicks ought to be OK in their careers. We can hope so. Their talent is too good to waste over politics.
Some of us, though, still haven’t learned that partisan politics, particularly when it is mean-spirited, just doesn’t mix well with entertainment. That’s especially true when the price of tickets these days is steadily climbing out of the average person’s ability to pay.

* * * * *

Speaking of politics and entertainment, whatever happened to the plans of all those Hollywood types who vowed they would leave the country if George Bush was elected the first time.
Well, he was, and they apparently haven’t. Now that he has won a second term, you might expect to hear some similar boasts – or threats, whatever they are. So far, though, the silence is deafening.
As far as anyone can see, Alex Baldwin, Barbra Streisand, and some of their like-minded “stars” haven’t been seen packing their bags.
What’s that old saying? Be careful what you wish for ….. now add threaten to do.

* * * * *

There are other examples of Hollywood personality behavior that are worth noting. Some are good, some not so good.
Actress Sandra Bullock is representative of the first. She quickly gave a million dollars to help the victims of the tsunami disaster in Southeast Asia. She had previously given another million to help others in need.
Then there’s Tom Hanks, who made a great movie and established a positive image in “Saving Private Ryan.” Then along comes the Pledge of Allegiance to the American flag and Hanks refuses to cite it with the words “under God” included.
He has every right, of course, to his opinion and actions involving the pledge. He needs to realize, though, that every action has a reaction. For a lot of folks, his opinion on the pledge is a real turn-off.