Clemmie Embly Webber

Dr. Clemmie E. Webber SILVER SPRING, MD. - Dr. Clemmie Embly Webber, 99, a retired South Carolina State University professor and civic leader, died on July 24, 2012, just six months shy of her 100th birthday. Also a businesswoman, wife, and mother, Dr. Webber was active in local and national organizations. She was born on January 7, 1913 in St. Matthews, SC, to Mrs.Colin Ann (Robinson) Embly and Mr. Henry Winifield Embly, and had four younger siblings: Dr. Rose Embly McCoy,Mrs. Nerissa Embly Perry, Mrs. Margaret Embly Evens, and Mr. Henry Embly. A portion of the Boulevard in front of Claflin University and South Carolina State University (SCSU) is named for Dr. Webber and her husband,Paul Rainey Webber, Jr., who died in 1991. Raised in Orangeburg, Dr. Webber attended elementary school at the L.M. Dunton Memorial Schoolwithin what was then the Primary Department at Claflin University, and secondary school at the academy within what is now SCSU. She alsoearned her bachelor's and master's degrees from SCSU. During ensuing years, Clemmie Webber continued to complete further coursework towardher doctorate when and where her busy schedule permitted, and earned the doctorate in science education from American University in 1966. Because of her devotion to her three children and her philosophy of motherhood, she was selected as the 1983 National Mother of the Year by American Mother's, Inc. At ages 89 and 92 she authored two books: My Treadwell Street Saga and The College Soda Shop. Dr. Webber began her career as a science and math teacher and was a faculty member at SCSU from 1955-1979. She was president of the South Carolina School Boards Association and chaired the Board of Orangeburg's School District Five. She was awarded the SC Education Association Award in 1982 for involvement in the passage of the South Carolina Education Finance Act of 1977, was instrumental in advocacy which led to the construction of a new campus for Orangeburg-Wilkinson High School in 1979, and was a member of the Orangeburg Council on Human Relations (formed for interracial cooperation on behalf of civil rights) during the 1960s. In 2008, the Education Resource Center of the I.P. Standback Museum & Planetarium was dedicated in her name, honoring her vision and role inestablishing the museum. A life member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., Clemmie E. Webber was a founding member of its Alpha Xi Chapter in 1934 and Alpha Tau Sigma Chapter (now the Orangeburg Alumnae Chapter) in 1938, a Regional Director, and First Vice-National President of the Sorority during the administration of Dr. Dorothy Height. She received the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity's Citizen of the Year Award in 1980, the Kiwanis Club's Orangeburg Citizen of the Year Award in 2003, and the Alpha Phi Alpha's Martin Luther King, Jr. Award , also in 2003. Governor Richard Riley conferred the Order of the Palmetto on Dr. Webber in 1990, having previously appointed her to the National Education Commission of the States. Dr. Webber was a life member of the NAACP and of the Links, Inc., and a Trustee, Emeritus at Mt. Pisgah Baptist Church. Her civic activities also included membership in Jack & Jill of America, Inc., the Board of Directors of the region's Girl Scout Council and the South Carolina Council on Environmental Education. She was also a member of the Sunlight Club, the Edisto Chapter No. 258, Order of the Eastern Star ROA of S.C., As You Like, Alpha Wives, and the Risky Women Investment Group. With her husband, Paul, Dr. Webber owned and operated the College Soda Shop from 1941-1960, at which countless students gathered to socialize - and where many worked their way through college earning wages while also gaining "an education for life" from the experience. Left to cherish her memory are her son, Judge Paul R. Webber III (Fay D. Webber), two daughter, Carolyn A. Webber, M.D. (Gerald E. Thomson, M.D), and Sheryl Webber Washington (Judge Eric T. Washington); a first cousin, Daniel P. Mosley; eight grandchildren, Paul R. Webber IV, Esq., Stephen D. Webber, M.D., Nikki Webber-Allen (Jeffrey Allen), Gregory A. Thomson, Esq., Karen B. Thomson, Ed.D., Lindsay D. Washington, Erica W. Washington, and Eric T. Washington, Jr.; five great-grandchildren, Jordan E. Edwards (Raymond Edwards), Paul R. Webber V, Sean D. Webber, Kelli L. Webber, and Marly E.S. Thomson; generations of beloved nieces, nephews, and cousins, and cherished friends. A wake will be held on Sunday, August 5, 2012 from 6pm to 8 p.m. at Mt. Pisgah Baptist Church, 310 Green St. in Orangeburg. The Omega Omega Service of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Service will be held at 6:30pm. Funeral services will be held Monday, August 6, 2012 at 11 a.m. The casket will be placed in the church at 10 a.m. Burial will follow immediately in Belleville Memorial Gardens. Contributions for scholarships in Dr. Webber's honor may be made to: SCSU Foundation, P.O. Box 7187, Orangeburg, SC 29117. "C.E. Webber Endowed"