William T "Bud" Shealy

WEST COLUMBIA - Funeral services celebrating the life of William Thomas “Bud” Shealy, 81, of West Columbia will be held at 11:00 A.M. Thursday, July 25, 2013, at Our Saviour Lutheran Church, 1500 Sunset Boulevard, West Columbia, South Carolina with interment in Southland Memorial Gardens Cemetery. Visitation will be held from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Wednesday, July 24, 2013 at Caughman-Harman Funeral Home, Lexington Chapel.

Bud was born in Woodruff, SC, to George R. “Ben” and Dora V. Wofford Shealy, and ten days after he was born, the family moved to Little Mountain. He graduated from Carlisle Military Academy where he was a member of the band and the football team. He attended Clemson University and also played in the band until joining the U.S. Navy where he served in the Korean War aboard the U.S.S. Kearsarge and the U.S.S. William Mitchell. After the war, Bud spent ten years as a newspaper photographer for The State and The Columbia Record newspapers. It was during this time that he met and married Marie Monts of Chapin and started his family. He retired from the Commission of Technical Education with twenty-five years of service as a photographer and videographer.

Bud loved his community and served it actively as a member of Sinclair Lodge 154 Ancient Free Masons, Ruritan National, the American Legion, and the U.S. Navy Transport Association. He was also a leader in the Boy Scouts of America, serving as Cub Master, Scout Troop Institutional Representative, and member of the Order of the Arrow. He has been a member of Our Saviour Lutheran Church for over 50 years.

In addition to his wife of fifty-five years, Marie Monts Shealy, Bud is survived by a son, William T. “Tom” Shealy II (Langley) of Columbia, SC; a daughter, Rhonda Shealy Richardson (Boies) of Lexington, SC and grandchildren, Benjamin Thomas Shealy of Mount Pleasant, SC, Olivia Grace Smith of Lexington, SC, Elijah Grey Burch of Columbia, SC and Spencer Elizabeth Shealy of Charleston, SC.

The family will receive friends at the Richardson residence, 101 Midway Farms Drive, in Lexington. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the American Cancer Society, 128 Stonemark Drive, Columbia, South Carolina, 29210 or the charity of one’s choice.

The family would like to extend a special thank you to the staff at Morningside of Lexington, Hospice Care of Tri- County and Dr. Ruben Mayer.