Dorothy L. "Dottie" Bragg
Myrtle Beach, SC
Dorothy L. (Dottie) Bragg of Myrtle Beach entered the Eastern Gate early Friday morning, June 29th, 2012 with her beloved husband Larry by her side. She and Larry were married over three decades ago and cherished life to the fullest with each passing day. One of eleven children, she was born in Farmville, NC, the daughter of the late Stonewall C. and Florence J. Langston. When she was a young girl the family moved to Myrtle Beach. Dottie, at the beginning of her career wrote ad copy for a local radio station and later worked with publisher Mark Garner at the original Myrtle Beach Sun newspaper. It was shortly after this time that she found her true calling in the Real Estate industry, a career that would last almost five decades and cast her in the role of a true trailblazer with a remarkable list of Firsts to her credit. Prior to joining the Board of Realtors, it had been an exclusive Boys Club since it's' inception. "Never again" she said she used to smile and say to herself at the beginning of each meeting. According to some of her contemporaries, it took a while, but she eventually won all of them over to her side. In addition to being the First female Realtor in Myrtle Beach, a few years later she became the First female Realtor to open her own office. Recognizing the fact that there needed to be an efficient way to disseminate information about properties for sale, she and a handful of her fellow Realtors founded the original Multiple Listing Service (MLS). Since at that time it was a separate entity from the Board, Dottie was elected to serve as its' First President. Later, Dottie became one of the First Realtors in our area to receive the GRI, CRS, and CRB Realtor designations. As the Myrtle Beach area grew, it became apparent that hundreds more Realtors would be required to handle the needs of the ever expanding customer and client base. Dottie was tapped by Horry/Georgetown Tech to teach the real estate courses. On the local Board level, she held every elected office at least once, including that of being the First Female President. Dottie also served as Chairman of virtually every Board Committee during her career. She was elected a State Director eleven times and chaired six committees of the State Association. She also served as Region 2 Vice President of the State Association for three terms. She founded the State Chapters of CRS and CRB and served as First President of each organization. Dottie has been recognized with the Realtor of the Year Award, the Realtor Image Award, the Realtor Life Award, the State Realtors Life Award, Six State Honor Board Awards, and the First ever Distinguished Service Award. In addition, about twenty-five years ago, Dottie was asked by the Horry/Georgetown Homebuilder Assn. for help in bringing the two organizations closer together. She was appointed Spike Club Chairman in charge of increasing their membership rolls. In short order she brought in 200 new companies and was later awarded The Life Spike Award from their National Association of Homebuilders. She also received their Most Valuable Award and the coveted President's Award. In 2010, she was honored by the South Carolina Real Estate Commission with a Proclamation, and later was awarded with the designation of Realtor Emeritus by the National Association of Realtors, a title possessed by just a handful of individuals in the United States. A longtime member of First Baptist Church in Myrtle Beach, she taught Sunday School, was a member of the Choir, and served as Church secretary under Dr. Carl Compton. She also was a Cub Scout den mother. She was a very early supporter and booster of the Myrtle Beach Chamber of Commerce, serving on many committees and projects with Fred Brinkman. For the City, she served several terms as Vice-Chairman of the Keep America Beautiful Committee, and later was appointed to the City's Cemetery Committee. In addition to her parents, Dottie was preceded in death by a daughter, Candace Edge and a son, Robert Earl Crumpler. Visitation will be Saturday, June 30th, 2012 from 5:00 until 7:00 p.m. at McMillan-Small Funeral Home. Services will be on Sunday, July 1st at 2:00 PM at McMillan Small Funeral Home. Burial will follow at Ocean Woods Memorial Cemetery. McMillan Small Funeral Home is serving the family. An online guestbook is available at www.msfh.net.
Published in The Sun News on June 30, 2012
