Robert Culp

1946 - 2020

Robert M. "Mike" Culp COLUMBIA - On Sunday afternoon, January 19, Robert M. "Mike" Culp died in Columbia after a week of difficulty and complications following spinal surgery. Mike was born to Wayne and Ruth Turpin Culp on October 19, 1946. He was raised in Inman SC, and attended Clemson University, receiving a BS in horticulture and a master's degree in entomology. He served in the Peace Corps in Ethiopia in 1968-1969 as a rural development teacher, worker, consultant. It was in Ethiopia that he met Karin Bascom, and they were married on Valentine's Day in 1971. Mike's interests and education led him to work as an agricultural extension agent with Clemson Extension Service, in Sumter, Dorchester, Beaufort, and Greenwood counties. While in Beaufort he became involved in Peace Corps training, and learned of an administrative position as associate director, and then director, of Peace Corps in the Southern African country of Malawi. He was there from 1985- 1989. After returning to the US, Mike returned to school to become accredited to teach. He retired in 2013 from Pontiac Elementary School, Columbia, SC where he had been teaching K-5 special ed. Children loved his sense of humor, and in turn he shared with them his love of books. And he was a great story teller. Mike is survived by his wife, Karin, and his brothers Wayne, in Inman, and Jim, who with his wife Cindy lives in Anderson and Nashville, and by innumerable cousins. His memorial service will take place in the Episcopal/Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd, in Galax, Virginia, on Saturday, January 25 at 2:00 pm. Barr-Price Funeral Home and Crematorium, Lexington Chapel, is assisting the family. Online register at barr-price.com