Charles Edward Vincent, Jr.
Retired Educator
Services for Charles Edward Vincent, Jr. of 1203 East Madison Street, Dillon, Will be held on Tuesday, May 17, 2016 at 3 p.m. at Main Street United Methodist Church, Dillon, S.C. Cooper Funeral Home is in charge of the arrangements. The family suggests that in lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Music Ministry of Main Street United Methodist Church, P.O. Box 229, Dillon, S.C. 29536, or the Dothan Community, Inc., c/o Victor Bethea, III, P.O. Box 205, Latta, S.C. 29565. The family will receive friends in Asbury Hall, Main Street United Methodist Church, from 2:00 to 3:00 p.m. on Tuesday, and at other times at the residence at 1203 East Madison Street, Dillon, S.C.
Mr. Vincent died Sunday, May 15, 2016 after a brief illness. Born in 1928 in Orangeburg, S.C., he was the son of Charles Edward and Helen Stokes Vincent.
He attended Presbyterian College and was a graduate of the University of South Carolina with a B.S. in Education and Masters in Education degrees. He retired in 1993 after a thirty-eight year career in public education as a principal, coach, and teacher in South Carolina and North Carolina schools, followed by several years as a substitute teacher. During his years of teaching and working with young people in athletics, scouting and church activities, his practice was to take a hand, open a mind, and touch a heart. For many years he officiated high school football and basketball games for the S.C. High School League and for fifty years was an independent crop insurance adjuster.
An avid outdoorsman who especially enjoyed hunting and gardening, Mr. Vincent was a former Jaycee and was an active member of the Dillon Lions Club.
While a member of St. Barnabas Episcopal Church for many years, he served as Church School Superintendent, Senior Warden, Bishop’s Key Man and Lay Reader. Later as an active member of Main Street United Methodist Church, he was a member of the Men’s Bible Class and Methodist Men and served on the Administrative Board and various committees including Finance, Pastor/Parish Relations and Building and Grounds.
Mr. Vincent was a Life Member of Mackey Lodge #77 where he was a Past Master. He was also a former Boy Scout Master and a Life Member of the University of South Carolina Alumni Association and a member of long standing of the University Educational Foundation and the USC Gamecock Club, and also of the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. Having been instrumental in organizing The Willow Lake Association, he was elected to serve as its first president. He was a member of the 228th AAA National Guard Group and an Army veteran of the Korean War.
A former member of the South Carolina Education Association, the North Carolina Association of Education and the National Education Association, he also belonged to several social organizations including the Cotillion Club of Dillon, the Minturn Culture Society and was a charter member of the German Society.
Mr. Vincent is survived by and will be greatly missed by his beloved wife of 63 years, the former Nell Bethea, and by sons and wives Charles Edward Vincent, III and Cheryl of Charleston, S.C. and William Bethea Vincent and Reida of Myrtle Beach, S.C.; grandchildren Katherine G. Vincent of Charleston, S.C. and Gregory E. Vincent of Columbia, S.C.; goddaughter Eleanor (Lea) Jenkins Webster of Anderson, S.C. and several nephews and nieces, and precious one Bella Rose Vincent.
