Category: 1973

Lloyd Kennedy Boggs, age 75, died on October 4, 2026 after a tough battle with cancer. Kenny was born on March 13, 1951 in Spartanburg, SC to the late Marcus Livingstone Boggs and Sarah Alice McFarland Boggs. Raised in Spartanburg, Kenny graduated from Spartanburg High School, Davidson College, and the University of South Carolina School of Law.

Following graduation from law school, Kenny began his 34 year legal career as an Assistant Attorney General in the South Carolina Attorney General’s Office. He then moved to the South Carolina Insurance Department, serving first as General Counsel to the department and later as Deputy Chief Insurance Commissioner. However, Kenny spent most of his career with Colonial Life & Accident Insurance Company, from which he retired as Senior Vice President – Legal & Compliance after 23 years of service with the company.

He was a 40 year member of Eastminster Presbyterian Church in Columbia, where he served as both a deacon and an elder.

Kenny enjoyed reading, outdoor activities such as hiking and kayaking, and spending time with family and friends. He particularly enjoyed attending sports and other activities of his granddaughters, to whom he was affectionately known as “Pop.” Kenny was an avid traveler, and along with his wife, Maureen, traveled extensively both domestically and internationally. Kenny and Maureen loved all of their trips, and especially loved traveling with their children and grandchildren.

Kenny was passionate about the U. S. national park system. In addition to visiting numerous national parks, monuments, historic sites, and recreation areas throughout the country, he was for many years a dedicated volunteer at Congaree National Park near Columbia.

Kenny is survived by his loving wife of 52 years, Maureen Margaret McGraw Boggs; son Richard Kennedy Boggs of Columbia; son Thomas Livingstone Boggs (Melissa Suppinger Boggs) of Columbia; granddaughters Laura Carlson Boggs and Claire Kennedy Boggs of Columbia; sister Alice Boggs Lentz of Montreat, NC; sister-in-law Marsha McGraw Olive and brother-in-law David Alan Olive of Washington, DC; sister-in-law Janice Carter Darby Boggs of Greer, SC; and beloved nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents; brothers Marcus Livingstone Boggs, Jr. and Thomas Alfred McFarland Boggs; and brother-in-law Thomas Neil Lentz.

A memorial service will be held on Monday, October 26 at 12:00 p.m. at Eastminster Presbyterian Church, 3200 Trenholm Road in Columbia. The family will greet visitors at the church following the service.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Richland Library Friends and Foundation, 1431 Assembly Street, Columbia, SC 29201; the National Parks Conservation Association, 777 6th Street NW, Suite 700, Washington, D.C. 20001; or a charity of one’s choice.

Stephen “Steve” Eugene Shepard, 75, a longtime resident of Augusta, Georgia, died September 15, 2026.

Steve was born in Atlanta on January 24, 1951, to Samuel Stephens Shepard, Junior and Doris Everitt Shepard. He graduated from Druid Hills High School in 1969 and Davidson College in 1973, then earned his law degree from the University of Georgia School of Law in 1976. He moved to Augusta that year and began a legal career spanning nearly five decades. As a 50-year member of the Georgia Bar Association, he maintained a solo practice and served for many years as a named partner in multiple longstanding Augusta law firms.

His legal career also led to decades of public service as an elected city councilman and county commissioner, and it included serving as county attorney and a magistrate judge for Augusta-Richmond County. Whether representing clients, advising the city, or sitting on the bench, Steve believed deeply in the law and remained devoted to Augusta and its people.

He joined the Augusta Lions Club in 1979, later served as its president for several terms, and remained active for many years.

Steve lived with Parkinson’s disease for 25 years, facing its challenges with courage and perseverance. As one friend remembered, “He was my hero and faced tough challenges with grace.” Known for his generosity and ability to turn acquaintances into friends, Steve was always willing to help others.

Steve and Kathie Mauldin Shepard married in 1973 and shared more than five decades together. He loved spending time with Kathie, his three daughters, and his grandchildren.

He enjoyed golf, Georgia football, running, hiking, and traveling. He also loved creating traditions, including making s’mores for the neighborhood each Halloween and running the train around the Christmas tree. He enjoyed train trips across the US with both family and friends, golfing weekly, and traveling to Georgia football games both near and far. He was a faithful and enthusiastic member of the Pairs and Spares Sunday school class at Trinity on the Hill.

Steve is survived by his wife, Kathie; his daughters, Brooke Baker and her husband, Joel, Whitney Shepard, and Mallory Dutton and her husband, Chris; and his grandchildren, Grant, Jackson, and Ellie Baker and Daphne, Cameron, and Sally Stephens Dutton. He was preceded in death by his parents.

The family will receive friends Sunday, September 27, from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. at Thomas Poteet & Son Funeral Directors, 214 Davis Road, Augusta.

A celebration of Steve’s life will be held Monday, September 28, at 2:00 p.m. at Trinity on the Hill, 1330 Monte Sano Avenue, Augusta. Honorary Pallbearers will be members of the Pairs and Spares Sunday School Class, the Lions Club, and the Law Dawgs.

In honor of Steve and the schools he loved—Druid Hills High School, Davidson College, and the University of Georgia—guests are invited to wear red and black.

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made in Steve’s memory to the The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, P.O. Box 5014 Hagerstown, MD 21741.

Spruce Pine- Clay Hyde Gatewood, 74, died Saturday, April 4, 2026, at home in his garden. Born Sept. 27, 1951, in New York City, Clay was the first child of Eugene and Audrey Gatewood.
He graduated from Myers Park High School in Charlotte in 1969 and from Davidson College in North Carolina in 1973.
He was inspired to spend all four seasons one year in a beloved family cabin in the mountains outside Spruce Pine, a special place he visited many times throughout his life. In 1975 he enrolled at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, studying architecture. He lived in several places including Kentucky and Tennessee working at architectural firms before moving to Albuquerque, New Mexico in 1988 to study sustainable architecture at the University of New Mexico. Over a three decade career, he flourished in Albuquerque as an architect and planner.
He worked as a licensed architect at several local firms and was an active member of the AIA, especially passionate about sustainability and historic preservation. Additionally, he worked for many years at UNM Hospitals as a Facilities Planning Director and with the City of Albuquerque Planning Department. During his career he contributed towards many amazing projects including the Bill and Barbara Richardson Pavilion hospital building, Albuquerque High Lofts, Portales Library, numerous UNMH outpatient health clinics and much more.
He also lent his professional expertise to friends and family, assisting with home designs and plans and helping produce some incredible residences.
His passion was always design and his own homes and properties reflect his talent. He also took incredible photography over the years while exploring the mountains and deserts of the Southwest.
Clay helped raise two sons and a stepson and loved being a grandpa. In his retirement years he enjoyed living a peaceful life spending most mornings and afternoons in his gardens and yards, tending to and taking beautiful pictures of lovely lively flowers.

Henry Dale Smith, Jr. died Monday, September 8 at Springfield Memorial Hospital after a long illness, in the presence of loving family and friends. He was 74. He is survived by his wife Deborah Klang Smith, his daughter Chandler Klang Smith and her partner Eric Taxier, his three brothers, Rogers Mood Smith, James Christopher Smith and Andrew Smith, and their families.

Known by his middle name Dale, he was born August 9, 1951 in Spartanburg, South Carolina, the first son of Henry Dale and Betty Mood Smith. In January 1954 the family, now including Rogers, relocated to Springfield, Illinois, where Dale’s father started the H. D. Smith Wholesale Drug Company.

Dale attended Dodds-Blackhawk Elementary, Franklin Junior High and Springfield High School, graduating in 1969. He earned a B.A. degree in political science at Davidson College in Davidson, North Carolina. He joined the H. D. Smith Wholesale Drug Company in 1974, working first in data processing, then later as a salesman who established several new territories for the company. He went on to hold leadership positions in all phases of the business.

In 1979, serendipity brought Deborah into Dale’s life when she and a mutual friend stopped by his condo unexpectedly to use the phone. They fell in love right away, each telling their mothers after their first date that they had met the one. They wed in 1980. In 1984 their daughter Chandler’s birth completed their nuclear family. In subsequent years frequent celebrations and get-togethers with both of their families continued to deepen and strengthen the bonds Dale so cherished.

Professionally, Dale also served for a time in the 1990s as Vice Chair and President of the J. M. Smith Corporation in Spartanburg, South Carolina, founded by his grandfather. In 1995 Dale’s father elevated him to Chief Executive Officer of the H. D. Smith Wholesale Drug Company after Dale engineered the company’s first acquisition, Texas Drug Company in Fort Worth, Texas.

Dale’s father had done an amazing job founding the company and building it into a solid, profitable and respected business. Under Dale’s leadership the company grew into a nationwide business with over 1000 employees. It was Dale who saw the need for the geographic expansion of the company, and who inspired and led that expansion. Dale’s vision, intelligence, drive, interpersonal skills and integrity enabled him to build relationships that led to successful acquisitions and market expansion. Dale’s passion for the business was unmistakable and was recognized by Ernst and Young, which named him Entrepreneur of the Year of Illinois in 2005. In 2016 Dale won the Wholesale Drug Industry’s highest award, the Nexus Award. Dale and his father Henry Dale Smith (2003 winner) are the only father-son duo to have received this award. Dale retired after executing the successful sale of the company to Amerisource Bergen in 2018.

Dale was a member of Westminster Presbyterian Church for over 60 years, serving the church where he grew up in many capacities. He was also a civic and philanthropic leader, serving on the Healthcare Distribution Alliance Board and Executive Committee, the Springfield Memorial Foundation Board, the SIU School of Medicine Board, and the Sangamo Club Board. He and his wife Deborah established the Dale and Deborah Smith Foundation to support their passions for the arts, education, medical research and the natural world.

Dale will be remembered as a devoted husband and father, a wise and generous brother, a beloved uncle and a kind and loyal friend.

Dale’s family offers a special thank you to Dale’s exceptional caregiving team from Stella Vis.

A memorial service will be held at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, October 18, at Westminster Presbyterian Church. A reception will follow.

Memorial gifts may be made to Westminster Presbyterian Church, 533 South Walnut, Springfield, Illinois 62704.