Troy Emerson McLaughlin

COLUMBIA - Troy Emerson McLaughlin, age 95, died April 26, 2011. Troy was born February 3, 1916, in Columbia, S.C., the daughter of the late Lewis A. Emerson and Marion Sanders Emerson. She was the wife of the late Robert Henry McLaughlin Sr., to whom she was married for 61 years. She attended Louly Shand's Kindergarten, Bon Air School and University High School in Columbia, S.C. She grew up as a young girl on Wheat Street, where she played with neighborhood friends in Chicora Field (Hand Middle School), when Shandon was a new neighborhood.

She graduated from The University of South Carolina in 1937, where she was a member of Alpha Delta Pi Sorority. She was a member of the U.S.C. Gamecock Club for 59 years.

At the time of her death she was the oldest original member of St. John's Episcopal Church, where her parents had been founding members in 1912. Troy was christened, confirmed and married there. She remained a member throughout her life.

She was an avid gardener and had a life-long talent for arranging flowers.

She is survived by her daughters, Troy McLaughlin (Frank Gulley) and Patricia McLaughlin McKay (Douglas), all of Columbia, and her daughter-in-law, Allison H. McLaughlin of Charlotte, N.C. She was affectionately known as "Manny" by her grandchildren. They are: Emerson S. Phillips, Douglas McKay IV, both of Columbia, Buchanan M. McKay II of Portland, Ore., Caroline H. McLaughlin of Winston-Salem, N.C., Robert H. McLaughlin III of Charlotte, N.C., and great-grandson, Mason D. Gast of Germantown, Tenn. She was predeceased by her son, Robert H. McLaughlin Jr.

A family service will be held at St. John's Episcopal Church. Visitation will be 5-7 p.m. Friday, April 29, 2011, at 1346 Kathwood Drive. Memorials may be made to St. John's Episcopal Church, 2827 Wheat St., Columbia, SC 29205 or Columbia Green, P.O. Box 50191, Columbia, SC 29250.