Joseph Kimpson

Joseph Kimpson

December 11, 2023

Durham, North Carolina - Joseph Elvin Kimpson peacefully transitioned on Monday, December 11, 2023. Born the third of four children, in Calhoun County, South Carolina, near St. Matthews, South Carolina, to Melton and Ruth Kimpson, he attended Calhoun County's Briarhead Elementary School, graduating from Lakeview High School in Lexington School District 2 in West Columbia, and graduated in 1954 from Benedict College in the heart of Columbia, South Carolina, with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English, he began his professional career as a teacher. He then served as a guidance counselor and an assistant principal. In the midst of his adult life, he was drafted to briefly serve in the United States Army. He matriculated for further graduate study at South Carolina State University, where he earned a Master's degree, and also earned an Administrative Certificate from Converse College. He completed additional studies at the University of South Carolina.

He was a member of the Board of Directors for the Bethlehem Center, the Ebony Credit Union, the Piedmont Girl Scout Council, and the South Carolina Greater Columbia Literacy Council. He also served as a member of the South Carolina Education Association; the South Carolina Association of Elementary School Principals, the Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development, the South Carolina Association of School Administrators, and the Briar Hill Masonic Lodge #304; and, as state President of the Future Teachers of America, now called the Student NEA). He pledged the Epsilon Nu chapter of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity and is also a life member of the Fraternity. He is also a member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and served his alma mater as a Southern Region Vice President of the National Alumni Association, Benedict's Alumni Club #2, and the Advisory Board of Benedict's MATE program. He was a faithful member of Second Calvary Baptist Church, where he served as Chairman of the Deacon board, Deacon Emeritus, and sang with the Senior Choir, the Cavaliers Men's Choir, the Sanctuary choir, and the Fifth Sunday Choir. He was also a member of Second Calvary's Brotherhood, served as Director of the Board of Christian Education, served as an assistant Sunday School teacher, and was an honorary Usher Board member. He was the writer and editor of the church's first newsletter, Tidings.

His decades of service to humanity included 37 years as an educator and administrator, having retired from the South Carolina State Department of Education as a supervisor in the Department of accreditation for 22 of those nearly four decades.

Of all his lifelong accomplishments, we believe that his most prized thoughts were around his family- his trio of children whom he called his heartbeats: Pamela Ruth (Milton), the youngest daughter of the trio; Maxwell Joseph (Letetia), his middle son; and Crystal Alicia, his eldest daughter. His siblings were the loves of his life-older brother Milton Kimpson (Aunt Wilhelmena); his older sister Jestine Kimpson McFarland Utsey; his baby sister Rudean Kimpson Bush (Uncle "Bush" Monroe); his nieces and nephews- Milton Gary (Audra, Andrea, and Amanda), Marlon (Marleigh and Little Marlon), Marc (Macy), Myron (Sam, Ben), Melril (Melril Kai), Marcell (Anita, Morgan, Rori, and Chelsea), Michael, and Nancy Lynn; and his grandchildren Matthew Vincent (Deidre), Adam Michael, Malachi Earl; Carmen Jordan, Maxwell Whittington; Maya Corin; Garrett; and his great-grandson Andre Michael.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that you consider donations to our beloved church's Christian Education department: Second Calvary Baptist Church, 1110 Mason Road, Columbia, S.C. 29203; or, to the Melton and Ruth Kimpson Endowed Scholarship fund, at Benedict College: www.benedict.edu/give.