R. Hazlehurst Obituary

HAZLEHURST, SR., R. COLUMBIA, SC - Robert Hazlehurst, Sr., 92, of Columbia, formerly of Sumter and Charleston, died Thursday, July 20, 2006, at Palmetto Health Baptist Hospital in Columbia from complications following hip surgery. Born June 17, 1914, he was a son of the late George Edward Hazlehurst and Jennie Mikell Hazlehurst of Charleston. He grew up in Charleston where he was an avid sailor, participating in countless regattas. He attended the College of Charleston and The University of South Carolina and obtained BS degrees in chemistry and business administration. After graduation he worked for the SC Highway Department and was later a partner in Parker Laboratories of Columbia where he was responsible for chemical engineering for the Santee Cooper dams and for construction of runways at Shaw Field (now Shaw Air Force Base). During World War II, he enlisted in the US Army and was sent to New Guinea, Biak, the Philippines, and Japan. He was commissioned by special order of the President. He arrived in Japan the day after the Japanese surrender to oversee reconstruction of the runways in Tokyo and Yokohama so American bombers could land. Upon discharge of the Army, he and Ross S. McKenzie of Sumter founded the H & M Chemical Co., Inc., Sumter, which manufactured agricultural chemicals and of which he was president. The company was acquired in 1967 by Southern Coatings & Chemical Co., of Sumter and Mr. Hazlehurst became manager of the Pesticides Division and a research chemist. He also owned Hazlehurst Oil Co. of Sumter. Mr. Hazlehurst was a member of the Episcopal Church of the Holy Comforter, and past president of the Episcopal Churchmen's Club. He was a member of the SC Fuel Oil Dealers Association, Southeastern Pesticide Formulators Association, SC Entomological Society, Sumter Rotary Club, the Executive Club, the Sunset Country Club of Sumter, the Sumter Cotillion Club, the Carolina Yacht Club of Charleston, and the St. Cecilia Society in Charleston. He is survived by his wife, Jennie Clarkson Dreher Hazlehurst of Columbia; his son, Robert Hazlehurst, Jr., of Beaufort; two daughters, Mikell Hazlehurst Baldwin of Beaufort, and Helen Scott Hazlehurst of Columbia; two stepdaughters, Anne Dreher and Jane Dreher Emerson both of Columbia; one granddaughter, Jennifer Mikell Baldwin of Beaufort and Columbia; and four stepgrandchildren. He was preceded in death by his first wife, Margaret Scott Hazlehurst of Sumter; three brothers, George Edward Hazlehurst of Jackson, Tennessee; William Yates Hazlehurst of Columbia; Waring Mikell Hazlehurst of Charleston; and three sisters, Marion Hazlehurst von Hagen of Grosse Pointe, Michigan and Charleston; Lois Hazlehurst Fitz of Charleston and Annapolis; and Mary Hazlehurst Thurston of Tulsa. Graveside services will be held at 11 A.M. Saturday in the Sumter Cemetery with the Rev. Dr. John Barr officiating. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to the Episcopal Church of the Holy Comforter, P. O. Box 338, Sumter, SC 29151 or to The Osteogenesis Imperfecta Foundation, P. O. Box 630342, Baltimore, MD 21263-0342. On-line condolences may be sent to www.sumterfunerals.com. Elmore Hill McCreight Funeral Home and Crematory, 221 Broad Street, Sumter is in charge of the arrangements. Visit our guestbook at www.charleston.net/deaths.