MARION COUNTY OBITUARIES: published on Sept. 24

Lonnie Leo Floyd
Lonnie Leo Floyd, 80, died Friday, Sept. 12, 2008 in McLeod Hospice House, Florence. Services were at 3 p.m. Monday, Sept. 15, in the Chapel of Cox-Collins Funeral Home, with the Rev. Neil Hinson officiating. Burial followed in Cedar Creek Cemetery.
Mr. Floyd was born Sept. 21, 1927 in Horry County, a son of the late Lawrence and Maude McDaniels Floyd. He was retired from Pilliod Furniture Manufacturing Company. Surviving Mr. Floyd are a sister, Eva Johnson and her husband J.M. of Mullins, and several nieces and nephews.

Laurel C. Martin
Laurel C. Martin, 84, died Friday, Sept. 12, 2008 in Southland Healthcare Center after an illness. Services were at 3 p.m., Monday, Sept. 15, at Ariel Baptist Church directed by Richardson Funeral Home. Burial followed in the church cemetery. Born in Kingstree, Mrs. Martin was a daughter of the late Lucian Winslow Turner and Lottie H. Turner. She worked for Sara Lee Hosiery and was a member of Ariel Baptist Church. She was predeceased by her first husband, Edward L. Cooke, and second husband, Hampton Martin; also a son, David L. Cooke, two brothers, Alton Turner and Joe Turner; and a sister, Miriam Turner.
Surviving are a son, Wayne Cooke of Florence; a brother, Sonny Turner of Johnsonville; two sisters, Ina Ruth Smith of Sumter and Basil Sprouse of Inman; three grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. Memorials may be made to Ariel Baptist Church, 3803 S. Highway 501, Mullins, S.C. 29574.

C. Randall “Red” Richardson
C. Randall “Red” Richardson, 31, husband of Amanda Jo Thompson Richardson, died Friday, Sept. 12, 2008 in his home after an illness. Services were at 4 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 14 in the Chapel of Cox-Collins Funeral Home of Mullins, with the Rev. James Fennell officiating. Burial followed in Riverdale Cemetery.
Mr. Richardson was born Nov. 28, 1976 in Mullins, a son of Danny and Sarah Faye Richardson. He was an electrician and attended Daviston Church of God.
Surviving Randall, in addition to his wife and his parents are two sons, Ramsey Richardson and Donald Hughes, both of Conway; three brothers, Kenneth Richardson, Anthony Richardson and Tony Harrellall of Conway; three sisters-in-laws, Courtney Richardson, Crystal Harrell, and Kerri Watts all of Conway; his father-in-law and mother-in-law, Don and Beverly Thompson of Conway; his paternal grandparents, James and Millie Scott of Conway; and several nieces and nephews.

Blanche R. Richardson
Blanche R, Richardson, 92, died Thursday, Sept. 11, 2008 in High Point N.C. after an extended illness. Services were at 3 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 14, at Piney Grove Baptist Church and burial followed at Nebo Baptist Church Cemetery. Mrs. Richardson was born in Marion County, a daughter of the late Frank and Lula Richardson. She retired from Wellman Combing Company and was a member of Piney Grove Baptist Church.
Surviving are her sons, Billy Richardson and his wife Jean of Tyrone, Ga., Jerry Richardson and his wife Nancy of Florence; daughters, Bobbie Godbolt and her husband George of High Point, N.C., Betty York and her husband Wayne of Fernandina Beach, Fla.; a sister, Dorothy Larrimore of Britton’s Neck; eight grandchildren, 10 great-grandchildren, and one great-great grandchild.

W. Rupert Edwards
W. Rupert Edwards, 84, widower of Dorothy Ford Edwards, died Monday, Sept. 15, 2008 in Marion County Medical Center after an illness. He was born Feb. 28, 1924 in Marion County, a son of the late William R. and Annie Lethia Edwards of Gresham. He was a retired farmer.
Surviving Mr. Edwards are two sons, Ansel Edwards of Gresham and Danny Edwards of Dillon; a daughter, Carolyn Ford of Nichols; 11 grandchildren, nine great-grandchildren; a brother, Ronnie Edwards of Nichols; three sisters, Lola McClellan of Nichols, Annie Avery of McConnellsburg, Penn., and Helen Browder of Timmonsville; and several nieces and nephews. Mr. Edwards was predeceased by two sons, Ralph Edwards and Eddie Edwards.
Graveside services were Tuesday, Sept. 16 at Watson Cemetery in the Zion Community, with the Rev. Martin Watkins officiating. The services were directed by Cox-Collins Funeral Home.

Bobbie Jean King
Bobbie Jean King, 68, died Monday, Sept. 16, 2008 in McLeod Regional Medical Center after an illness. Services were at 3 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 18 at Marion Church of God, burial followed in Devotion Gardens Cemetery. Mrs. King was born in Marion, a daughter of the late Liston Huggins and Daisy Cooper Huggins Campbell. Her husband, Stanley King, predeceased her. She was a homemaker and member of Marion Church of God.
Surviving her are brothers, Bill Huggins and his wife Nancy, of Columbia, Willie Huggins and his wife Jaxie of Marion; sisters, Jewel Harrelson and her husband, Henry, of Sumter and Betty Small and her husband, Steve, of Laurinburg, N.C. 

Mr. William J. “John” Grainger
Mr. John Grainger, 66, died Friday, Sept. 12, 2008 in McLeod Regional Medical Center after an illness. A graveside service was on Sunday, Sept. 14, 2008 at 3 p.m. at Bear Swamp Baptist Church Cemetery, directed by Cook Funeral Home of Lake View.
Mr. Grainger was born in Dillon County on Jan. 30, 1942, the son of the late Everette and Lorean Page Grainger. He was a member of Ridgecrest Baptist Church and was retired from Sara Lee Hosiery. Surviving Mr. Grainger is his wife, Rosa Jones Grainger; sons, Joey Grainger (Beverly) of Florence, Steven Grainger of Concord, N.C. and Mark Grainger of Wilmington, N.C.; a brother, Wendell Grainger (Marie) of Lake View; a sister, Margie Grainger of Myrtle Beach; two grandsons, Dustin and Nicholas Grainger; several nieces and nephews and a special friend, Kevin Welch, of Charlotte, N.C.
Memorials may be made to the Autism Society or Bear Swamp Baptist Church Cemetery, P.O. Box 517 Lake View, 29563.

William Levi Gerald
William Levi Gerald, 54, MD, PhD, well known scientist and pathologist, died at home in Pelham, N.Y., on Sept. 14, 2008, after his battle against cancer. Born on March 2, 1954, he was the son of Thelma Todd Gerald of Windy Hill Beach and the late Cleeland Talbert Gerald. His late grandparents are Lucian Cornelius Gerald and Blantie Annabelle Moore and Mack C. Todd and Arcy Jane Faulk, all of Loris.
Dr. Gerald married Lucta Johnson Allen on May 5, 1979. They have five children, William Cleeland, Emma, Grace Lucta, Anne Marshall, and Sarah Todd. His brother, Michael Cornelius Gerald, his sister-in-law Monice Elizabeth Williams and nephew Michael Cornelius Gerald Jr. live in Briarcliffe Acres.
A graduate of McClenaghan High School, Florence, the University of South Carolina and the Medical University of South Carolina, he completed a residency and fellowship in anatomic pathology at Yale University, New Haven, Conn.
He served as assistant professor in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, MUSC, 1988-1992 and was an assistant attending and professor at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, N.Y., 1992 to 1997. From 1997 to 2002 he was associate attending at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and associate professor at Weill College of Medicine of Cornell University.
From 2002 to the present, he served as an attending at Memorial Hospital, New York, N.Y. He was a member of the U.S. and Canadian Society of Pathology, American Society for Investigative Pathology, the Association for Molecular Pathology and the American Association for the Cancer Research. He served on many academic and hospital committees locally and nationally.
He is the author and reviewer of countless research articles and grants. As a surgical pathologist he had a special interest in cancers of young people and the molecular biology of cancer. Marc K. Rosenblum MD, PhD, his esteemed chairman and friend said, “He will be deeply missed for his collaborative spirit, which led to the application of his research in diagnosis, prognostication, and therapeutic design.”
There will be a memorial service at Huguenot Memorial Church, 901 Pelhamdale Avenue, Pelham, N.Y. on Thursday, Sept.18 at 7 p.m. A memorial service in South Carolina will be arranged at a later date.

Carolina Buchan Robson
Caroline Buchan Robson, wife of Franklin Robson III, devoted mother and dedicated teacher died Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2008. A funeral was on Thursday, Sept. 18, 2008 in St. Philip’s Episcopal Church and interment followed in Cedardale Cemetery, Mullins. Mrs. Robson was born July 11, 1942 in Mullins, the daughter of Jonathan Edward Buchan and Margaret Liles Buchan. She was an honors graduate of Mullins High School and earned her bachelor’s of arts degree in English from Converse College in 1964.
She became a well-known and respected high school English teacher in many venues during her 20-year teaching career. She taught for 12 years at James Island Charter High School.  She was chair of the English Department and was instrumental in the implementation of The International Baccalaureate Program.
She retired from the James Island school in 2006. She also taught at the Florence Crittenden Home and was a member of St. Philip’s Episcopal Church, The Charleston Supper Club, The Charleston Cotillion and the Junior League of Charleston.
She is survived by her husband; daughters, Liles Robson Eanes and her husband Brian, Elizabeth Robson Jordan and her husband Michael, Katherine Ann Buchan Robson and Ann Robson Bomgren and her husband Seth, all of Charleston; a sister, Scarlett Buchan Morgan of Bolivia, N.C.; a brother, Jonathan Edward Buchan Jr. and his wife Suzette of Charlotte; and her extended family. Memorials may be made to Hospice of Charleston Foundation,3870 Leeds Avenue, Suite 101, North Charleston, 29405 or to the American Cancer Society, 5900 Core Road, Suite 504, North Charleston, 29406.