Bill Kemp

Mr. Bill Kemp of Martinez, Georgia passed away at Piedmont Hospital in Augusta, Georgia on his 94th birthday on January 12, 2025.
Joint graveside memorial services and inurnment will be held on Saturday afternoon July 26th from the Sanderson Cemetery in the Pleasant Shade Community with Eld. Rickey Hackett officiating. Burial will be in the Kemp family lot at the foot of his parents in the East Section.
Bill's wife, Sue Walker Kemp of seventy-one years, followed him to heaven on January 26, 2025.
He was born Billy Kenneth Kemp, a sharecropper's son, in the Pleasant Shade Community on January 12, 1931 and was the oldest child of eleven children of the late Curtis Draper Kemp who died at the age of 54 on February 18, 1966 and Dorothy Mai Hackett Kemp who died at the age of 91 on February 24, 2005 and attended a one-room schoolhouse and dedicated his life to serving others.
Siblings preceding him ins death were three brothers and four sisters; Ronnie Glenn Kemp who died at the age of one day of age on June 27, 1955, Jean Kemp Waters who died November 2, 1991 at the age of 59, Paul Draper "Slick" Kemp who died November 14, 2009 at the age of 67, Gail Kemp Smith who died March 14, 2012 at the age of 72, Bobby Rex "Bob" Kemp who died April 19, 2019 at the age of 84, Myrtle "Mert" Kemp who died February 14, 2021 at the age of 73 and Sandra Kemp Bowman who died November 18, 2021 at the age of 83.
Mr. Kemp served in the U.S. Marines and while there, played football and attended cook and baker's school. He attained the highest rating ever at the school. On his return from the service, he met and married the love of his life, Sue Walker Kemp. They were married for over 71 years. With a new wife in tow, he attended the University of Tennessee at Knoxville in Agriculture, with a major in dairy products manufacturing. While at U.T.K., Bill joined the Alpha Gamma Rho fraternity, where he was elected president of their first pledge class and maintained close friendships with his fraternity brothers throughout his life.
Following college, Bill worked at several dairy companies until he was made general operations manager at Pet Dairy in Charlotte. He eventually left Pet for the Macke Company/Service America/Canteen/Compass Group, a vending and industrial food service company, where he became Vice-President-General Manager and worked there the rest of his career until retirement. During his time there, Bill won the North Carolina Vendor of the Year award. Shortly after college, Bill began his life-long passion for service to others.
He first joined the Maryville-Alcoa Jaycees and quickly became club president. He then joined Rotary International and eventually became president of the North Charlotte Rotary Club. While president, Bill co-created Rotaract, a Rotary youth club that now has grown to over 10,000 clubs world-wide with over 200,000 members in 184 countries. He also was a District Governor, a Paul Harris Fellow, attended international conferences and a recipient of the"Service Above Self" award, only given to the top echelon of fellow Rotarians. Through Rotary, Bill helped sponsor many exchange students from other countries. His local club also co-named their "Rotarian of the Year" award after Bill. In addition, something that Bill was very proud of, was his perfect Rotary attendance for over 50 years.
Bill also showed a life-long interest in scouting, when he formed a boy scout troop. Over the years, he became a Scout Master, District Chairman, Council Commissioner and Council President of Boy Scouts of America. Along the way, Bill received the "Silver Beaver Award" the highest recognition in scouting. He also showed his dedication to scouting by participating in numerous overnight camping trips and the National Jamboree.
In addition to Rotary and scouting, Bill got heavily involved with Junior Achievement. He was elected president of Junior Achievement in Charlotte (twice), received several leadership awards, served on several regional and national Junior Achievement boards and was given the National Leadership Award. Bill also served as a Crusade Chairman for the American Cancer Society and sat on the Executive Committee for several years.
Finally, Bill was always heavily involved with his church. A life-long Presbyterian, Bill was elected to serve as an Elder at several Presbyterian churches during his life. With great pride, Bill was instrumental in persuading Sardis Presbyterian Church in Charlotte, NC to sponsor a Laotian refugee family to come to this Country. Bill and Sue maintained a close relationship with the family, all the way up to his death.
Bill was an easy-going, friendly person who was genuinely concerned about the welfare of others. He loved University of Tennessee sports. Particularly football and women's basketball. He started the first UT Alumni Chapter in Charlotte, NC and sat on several alumni boards. Bill loved to travel. He and Sue experienced many countries around the world and even took a couple of barefoot cruises around the Caribbean-his favorite vacation. Bill also loved to read. He was always reading a magazine or book.
After retirement, Bill became very curious about his ancestry and studied his family genealogy, which he shared with his family members through a series of books he wrote about his family history. Above all, his favorite thing to do was to spend time with his grandchildren, Jonathan and Jessica. He was so proud of them and he and Sue took them on many trips around the Country.
He is survived by his son Mike Kemp and wife Wendy of Rock Hill, South Carolina; two grandchildren, Jonathan Kemp of Charlotte, North Carolina, Jessica Kemp of Charleston, South Carolina; sisters, Mary Procter of Houston, Texas and Donna Holder of Hartsville; brother, Roy Kemp and wife Terri of the Graveltown Community.