Louis Hite Jr.

HITE, JR., Louis FLORENCE - Louis Carey Hite, Jr., 86, a true Christian and southern gentleman, died Monday, February 26, 2007, in a local hospital after an illness. Funeral services will be 3:00 p.m., Wednesday, February 28, 2007, in St. Luke Lutheran Church. Entombment will follow in Mount Hope Cemetery Mausoleum, directed by WATERS-POWELL FUNERAL HOME. The family will receive friends from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m., Tuesday, at the funeral home. Mr. Hite was born in Florence, a son of the late Louis Carey Hite, Sr., and Margaret Cook McAllister Hite. He graduated from McClenaghan High School in 1937 and graduated cum laude from Davidson College in 1941. He served in the U.S. Army from 1941 to 1946, and was honorably discharged as a Major. Mr. Hite was president of Hite Co., food distributors, from 1946 until 1970 when this company merged with Thomas and Howard Co. He was vice-president and manager of their Florence Division until his retirement in 1985. He continued as a director of Thomas and Howard Co. of Columbia, Newberry, and Spartanburg. Mr. Hite was a member of St. Luke Lutheran Church of Florence. He served on the church council, taught adult Sunday school for a number of years, and was a member of the church choir for over fifty years. He was a charter member of the Florence Symphony Orchestra and served as it's first President. He was past President of the Florence Rotary Club and the Florence Country Club. He served as past Chairman of the Florence County Republican Party, past director of the Guaranty Bank of Florence and on the advisory board of the South Carolina Federal Bank. He also served on boards of the Pee Dee Area Boy Scouts, Florence Chamber of Commerce and the Florence City Election Commission. Surviving are his wife of 64 years, Gladys Johnston Hite of Harlingen, TX; three sons, Dr. Louis Carey Hite III and wife, Paula, of Columbia, Dr. Arnold Hite and wife, Sharon, of Charleston, and Peter Hite and wife, Susanne, of Greenville; three daughters, Kathy Hite-James and husband, John, of Palm Desert, CA, Sally Hite Watson and husband, Doug, of Florence, and Kissy Hite Merrifield and husband, Bill, of Advance, NC; five grandsons, Arnold Hite Jr., Carey Hite IV, Whitley Merrifield, Pierson Hite and Hite Merrifield; four granddaughters, Allison Hite, Melissa Hite, Costner Merrifield and Talley Hite. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Boy Scouts of America, the American Heart Association or St. Luke's Lutheran Church. Visit our guestbook at www.charleston.net/deaths.