Wyatt Pringle Obituary

PRINGLE, SR., Wyatt Wyatt Browning Pringle, Sr. died Wednesday, November 23rd, 2005. A Mass of Christian Burial will be at St. Peter's Catholic Church on Lady's Island on Saturday November 26h at eleven o'clock in the morning. Burial will follow at the new cemetery at St. Helena's Episcopal Church. Wyatt was born July 15, 1929 in Blackville, S.C., to Somers Buist Pringle and Kathryn Browning Pringle. He lived in Beaufort from the age of five, graduating from Beaufort High School in 1946. He spent his freshman year at Clemson College and in 1947 transferred to the Citadel and graduated with honors in 1950. In 1952 he was called into the Army for the Korean War and served as a First Lieutenant with the 38th AAA Battalion. He was stationed at Fort Stewart, Georgia, Fort Bliss, Texas and Norfolk, Virginia. In 1955 he began a forty-year career with Kinghorn Insurance Agency, retiring as senior partner in 1994. Wyatt was always an active member of the Beaufort community, and his desire to serve others placed him in numerous organizations, both civic and religious. He was one of the original organizers of the Beaufort Water Festival and its first treasurer. He also served for twelve years on the Beaufort County Board of Education and was a trustee at Beaufort Academy. He served for eight years on the Board of Regents of Beaufort Memorial Hospital and later on the foundation board. He also sat on the board of the Chamber of Commerce and the former Beaufort U.S.O. Later serving on its board, he was a member of an ad hoc committee founding the local Boys and Girls Club. Consistent with his environmental stewardship, he was director of the Beaufort County Open Land Trust. Additionally, he served as chairman of the Beaufort Fund Advisory Committee for four years, sat on the board of directors of the Charleston based Community Foundation serving Coastal South Carolina, and was a member and past president of the Beaufort Rotary Club. As a businessman, Mr. Pringle upheld a superb standard of ethics, encompassing the dignity, respect and mentorship of others. He was a vice president and director of First Carolina Bank, served on the local advisory boards of South Carolina National Bank, and Palmetto State bank. He also served a term on the advisory councils of Crum & Forster Insurance Companies and Selective Insurance Group. On the Executive Management Committee of the Independent Insurance Agents Association of South Carolina, he served two terms. With a lifelong interest in history and preservation, he was involved in numerous related organizations, serving as president of the Historic Beaufort Foundation and was the first non-Charlestonian to be elected president of the South Carolina Historical Society. He was on the advisory board of the Beaufort Museum. Mr. Pringle was also an active member of the Beaufort County Historical Society, the St. Cecilia Society of Charleston, and the Society of Colonial Wars. In his later years, he continued his passion for preservation by documenting in vast detail the history and genealogy of his family. Mr. Pringle, member of St. Peters Catholic Church, was on many standing committees over the years including serving a term as president of the parish Confraternity of Christian Doctrine Board, a member of parish council, an usher, and a member of the Holy Name Society, Men's Club, and various planning and building committees. He formerly served on the Diocesan Finance Council of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Charleston. In 1997, Pope John Paul II honored Mr. Pringle by naming him a Knight Commander of the Order of Saint Gregory the Great. Mr. Pringle is survived by his wife of fifty years, Sally Gray Pringle, his daughter Katherine Somers Pringle of Atlanta, daughter and son-in law, Frances Cherry Pringle and David Lee Cherry of Beaufort, son and daughter-in-law Wyatt Browning Pringle, Jr. and Tracy Hundley Pringle of Bluffton, and grandchildren, David Lee Cherry, Jr., McKie Pringle Cherry, Frances Somers Cherry, and John Chisholm Cherry. The family will receive friends from 5 o'clock to seven o'clock on Friday evening November 25th at their home, 411 Bayard Street. A prayer service will be held at seven o'clock following visitations. The family requests that those wishing to make memorials, to do so to the Building Committee of St. Peter's Catholic Church, 70 Lady's Island Drive, Beaufort, SC 29907 or Friends of Caroline Hospice, 1110 13th Street, Port Royal, SC 29935. Visit our guestbook at www.charleston.net/deaths.