Josephine Wilder Obituary

WILDER, Josephine SUMTER, SC - Josephine Williams Wilder, age 85 years, (Born in Stateburg January 18, 1921, died in Sumter August 22, 2006) She was the widow of Arthur Harrison Wilder Sr. and the daughter of the late J. Frank Williams Sr. and Florence Hendricks Williams. She was a graduate of the Sumter Girls High School and a 1941 Magna Cum Laude graduate of Winthrop College. She received her Master's degree in French Literature from the University of South Carolina in 1965. She studied at the Texas State College for Women, in Saltillo Mexico, The University of Tennessee, and at Columbia University. She taught at Edmunds High School for 23 years and was on the faculty of the University of South Carolina at Sumter in the department of Arts and Letters from which she retired as professor emerita in 1984.She was a member of the Church of the Holy Comforter where she served as Organist for 15 years. She played organ at St. Christopher Church for 12 years and was an active member of the Stateburg Literary and Musical Society, Iota chapter of Delta Kappa Gamma Society International and the American Iris Society. Surviving are three children, Arthur Harrison Wilder Jr. married to Linda Leonard Wilder, James Robbins Wilder of Graniteville married to Becky Jones Wilder and Martha Josephine Wilder of Spartanburg SC; Three sisters, Mrs. Theodore (Melissa) Parker of Sumter, Mrs. Jack (Bobby) T. Bechtel of Melbourne, Florida and Mrs. Ashley (Lillian) Gale of Charlotte, NC; Six grandchildren, Ashley W. Stewart and husband J. Caleb Stewart, A. Harrison Wilder III and wife Eileen Wilder, A. Hunter Wilder, Bobbie Jo Wilder, Katie W. Marshall and husband Nick Marshall, and Ruth Ann Wilder; and two step-granddaughters, Julia Dixon and Mary Dixon. She was predeceased by her husband and her siblings, Ruth Williams, Florence Scarborough, John Frank Williams Jr., Hope Coker, Betty Harris, and Mary Grace Parker. Funeral Services will be held on Friday August 25, 2006 at 2:00 PM at the Church of the Holy Comforter with the Rev. John Barr officiating. Interment will follow at Sumter Cemetery. The family will receive friends on Thursday, August 24, 2006 from 6:00-8:30 pm at 25 S. Magnolia St, Sumter SC. Memorials may be made to the music fund for the Church of the Holy Cross, 335 N Kings Highway, Sumter, SC 29154. Online memorial messages may be sent to the family at www.bullockfuneralhome.com. The family has chosen Bullock Funeral Home for the arrangements. Visit our guestbook at www.charleston.net/deaths.