Sue Binns Black

Sue Binns Black Clemson, SC Sue Binns Black, 99, passed away peacefully at Clemson Downs retirement center in Clemson, SC, on April 17, 2013. Born to Joseph and Martha Binns of Union Point, Georgia, on July 28, 1913, she was valedictorian of her class at Union Point High School before attending and graduating from Wesleyan Methodist College (now Southern Wesleyan University) in Central, SC. There she met Watson C. Black, and they were married on June 26, 1934. When her husband entered the ministry in 1936, his calling became her calling as well. They served together in pastoral ministry for thirty-three years before he was elected superintendent of the North Carolina West District of The Wesleyan Church, an office he held for thirteen years until his retirement in 1982. He preceded her in death in 1989. Since his passing she has lived near family, first in North Carolina and then in South Carolina. At her advanced age, having outlived virtually all of her peers, she borrowed a phrase from her pastoral experience to say that she felt rather like "the last one to leave church." In fact, she was one of the two oldest alumnae of her alma mater, an honor she shared with a friend who was born on exactly the same day. Sue Black served her family, friends, church, and community with dignity and grace. She will be remembered for her significant contribution to her husband's ministry, her skill as a Bible teacher, her years of leadership in what was then called the Women's Missionary Society (on both local and district levels), and her efficiency as office manager during her husband's years in the district superintendency. Her sister Mary Lois Caldwell and her brother Morris Binns also preceded her in death. She is survived by her sons and their wives, Dr. Watson H. and Peggy Black of Kannapolis, NC, and Dr. Robert and Judy Black of Central, SC. She is also survived by her grandchildren, Kimberly Black Owensby of Kannapolis, Pamela Black Strader of Kannapolis, Jon Marshall Black of Atlanta, GA, Jennifer Black Keaton of Seneca, SC, and Jared Christopher Black of Atlanta, and their spouses, as well as seven great-grandchildren and numerous nieces, nephews, great-nieces, and great-nephews. The family will receive friends from 1:00-2:00 p.m. Saturday, April 20, 2013 in the sanctuary of First Wesleyan Church, Kannapolis, North Carolina. The funeral service will follow at 2:00 p.m. Burial will at 4:30 p.m. at the cemetery of Shady Grove Wesleyan Church in Colfax, North Carolina. In lieu of flowers, the family respectfully requests that donations to the Nicholson-Mitchell Christian Ministry Center on the campus of Southern Wesleyan University, P. O. Box 1020, Central, SC 29630-1020, be considered. Condolences may be expressed online at www.robinsonfuneralhomes.com or at Duckett-Robinson Funeral Home, Central, SC.