Robert W. McCully Sr.

BAMBERG - Robert W. McCully Sr. passed away Thursday, March 11, 2010, in Lexington Regional Medical Center Hospital, in Lexington, S.C., after an extended illness. He had been in Carroll Campbell Place, an extended care unit of the Medical Center, since August 2009.
 
Mr. McCully was born in West Palm Beach, Fla., son of the late R. W. "Mac" McCully, formerly of Anderson, S.C., and his wife, the late Ruth E. Dennis McCully. Mr. McCully, better known as "Bob," had resided in Bamberg since he was 15 years old, and attended Carlisle Military School. After graduating from Carlisle, Mr. McCully attended Wofford College in Spartanburg, S.C., on a football scholarship. He was a tackle on the Wofford team, and was selected for the S.C. All State Team for the 1954 season and received honorable mention for the little All American Team from Small Colleges.
 
At Wofford, he was president of Sigma Alpha Epsilon, a national social fraternity, and a member of Sigma Delta Psi, the national honorary athletic fraternity, and was selected for membership in Blue Key, an honor society dedicated to service, whose members are selected on the basis of scholarship, character, personality and leadership. Mr. McCully was also Army ROTC battalion commander his senior year at Wofford.
 
Following graduation in 1955 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in education, Mr. McCully taught world history at McClenigan High School in Florence, S.C. He was also an assistant football coach that year when the team won the state's AAA Championship, the highest award in competition at that time.
 
In 1956, Mr. McCully married Virginia "Ginger" Nettles Brabham of Bamberg and went to Georgetown, S.C., where he taught physical education to the 5th and 6th grades. At the same time, he was head football coach at Winyah High School, and also coached baseball. The next year, Mr. McCully went on active duty and was trained as an Army intelligence officer at Fort Holabard in Baltimore, Md.
 
After completing his active duty training, he returned to Bamberg in 1957 and taught world history at Carlisle Military School while serving as head football coach. He continued his military career in the U.S. Army Reserve at various units in South Carolina over the next 27 years until he retired in 1985 as a lieutenant colonel. During that time, he completed training programs from numerous military schools, including the Army Command and General Staff College non-resident program at Fort Leavenworth, Mo., and the Air War College non-resident program at Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, Ala.
 
In 1958, Mr. McCully joined his father-in-law, the late Clarence M. Brabham, in the family business while continuing his coaching duties at Carlisle for a final year. At that time, Brabham Oil Company was primarily a wholesome petroleum products distributorship serving three counties, with one company-owned filling station in Bamberg. Mr. Brabham retired from the business in 1970, and Mr. McCully eventually bought the company which now serves 22 counties in the lower half of the state through the distributorship and from numerous company-owned convenience stores.
 
Mr. McCully was a member of Trinity United Methodist Church where he served on various committees in the past. Through the years, he was also a supporter and contributor to various civic and charitable organizations. A firm supporter of education, Mr. McCully endowed a 4-year football scholarship at Wofford College in 1992, and two 2-year academic scholarships for deserving students in Bamberg County at the University of South Carolina Salkehatchie in 1999.
 
He was a member of the Men's Garden Club and past president of that organization, as well as a former member and past president of the Bamberg Lions Club. Prior to retirement, he represented his company in the S.C. Petroleum Marketers Association. He also held a company membership in the Bamberg County Chamber of Commerce, an organization his father-in-law helped found.
 
Following retirement, Mr. McCully devoted more time to other areas of major interest, community and economic development. As a successful businessman, he understood the need for on-going development of community assets and continuous efforts to retain and expand existing industry and to attract new industry in order to create jobs and expand the tax base. He described his involvement as "giving back to my community, a community that has been good to me and my family in the past, and one in which we have invested for the future."
 
Mr. McCully served four years on the Executive Committee of Upward Bamberg County, the grassroots organization formed in early 1998 to develop Bamberg County's strategic plan. He also was the first chairman of the Economic Development Task Force for Upward Bamberg County. He was the chairman of the Bamberg County Steering Committee for the Low Country Regional Committee Partnership, Inc., community development cooperation for distressed areas of Bamberg, Hampton and Beaufort counties that receive designation as a Champion Community for the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
 
In 1999, Mr. McCully graduated from the first Tri-County Alliance Leadership School jointly sponsored by the University of South Carolina Salkehatchie, Clemson University and the Tri-County Alliance. He was also a graduate of the S.C. Economic Developers School at the College of Charleston, jointly sponsored by the S.C. Department of Commerce, the S.C. Economic Developers Association and the College of Charleston.
 
Mr. McCully was a former member of the Bamberg County Development Board, serving as its chairman during 1999 and 2000, a former member of the S.C. Economic Developers Association, and a former member of the Southern Economic Development Council, a professional organization for economic developers in 17 southern states.
 
Mr. McCully is survived by his loving wife of 10 years, the former Mary O. McCartney Olson, who he met through his volunteer activities in community and economic development. He is also survived by his two devoted sons and their families: son, Robert W. McCully Jr.; grandson, Robert Jason McCully, and his wife, Misty; their children, great-grandson, William Harper McCully, and great-granddaughter, Madison P. McCully; granddaughter, Virginia L. McCully; son, Clarence B. McCully and his wife, Cindy; grandsons, Dustin, David and Lee McCully; and granddaughter, Miranda McCully; his son's mother, Virginia Nettles Brabham McCully; members of Mrs. McCully's family, stepdaughter, Mary Ann Jarvorski and her husband, Eugene; stepgranddaughter, Lauren Ann Jarvorski; brother-in-law, Joe L. McCartney and his wife, Josephine. Bob is also survived by his sister, Rebecca Edwards, and her husband Glenn, as well as numerous nieces, nephews, great-nieces and great-nephews.
 
Visitation will be Saturday, March 13, 2010, from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. in the Cooner Funeral Home chapel.
 
Funeral will be Sunday, March 14, 2010, at 3:00 p.m. at Trinity United Methodist with the Rev. Dr. Web Belangia officiating. A private internment will be later in South End Cemetery. Cooner Funeral Home in Bamberg is assisting the family.
 
Memorials may be made to Bamberg Cemetery Association, PO Box 1128, Bamberg, SC 29003, or to Trinity United Methodist Church, PO Box 335, Bamberg, SC 29003.