Clarendon County said goodbye to both a former school district superintendent and County Council member on Sunday.
Dr. Carl Bentley Ramsey, 87, husband of Virginia Cothran Ramsey, died Sunday, Jan. 29, 2017, at his home.
Born between Benton and Bauxite, Arkansas, Ramsey graduated from Ouachita Baptist University in 1951, and then served in the U.S. military in Korea. He received a master’s degree in 1954 from Peabody College in Nashville, and an educational specialist degree in 1972 from Western Carolina University.
He moved to Manning in 1972 when he was named the Clarendon School District 2 superintendent. He served in that position for an unprecedented 16 years, retiring in 1988.
He was elected to Clarendon County Council in 1992, and served there for 12 years.
"We served on County Council together," said current Council Chairman Dwight Stewart, who was elected in 2000. "He was a man of great integrity and served the residents of Clarendon County well. He was a good steward of the residents' tax dollars. His experience as a school administrator was very helpful as a council member, as he understood the challenges of the school districts."
According to an article in The State newspaper from 1986, Ramsey was responsible for a huge turnaround in Clarendon School District 2 after taking the helm in 1972.
"We were in the bottom two or three out of 92 districts in South Carolina," Ramsey told The State in 1986. "This was both in teacher salaries and student academic achievement, based on standardized tests. And we were the worst of the worst because, educationally, South Carolina ranked in the bottom two or three of all 50 states."
That story was written when the district had received a $105,000 state incentive bonus, one that went to all state schools in 1986 who had shown certain levels of improvement in student test scores and teacher and student attendance.
Ramsey said at the time that it was great for the district's pride.
"He was a great administrator, and he knew the students," said Manning City Councilman Clayton Pack, who graduated from Manning High School in 1982.
"Even after I graduated, he knew me by name, and would always greet me. He was very hands-on with the school district," Pack said. "He was community-minded, and adopted Clarendon County and Manning as his home. I know he will be missed."
Ramsey and his wife were also quite welcoming to others new to the Clarendon area, as they had been when they first moved here 45 years ago. Julia Pace said "Papa Ramsey," as she called him," took her and her husband under his wing "and helped us settle and grow in a new area, miles away from our home towns."
"They were such a wonderful couple," Pace said. "Our love is with her and the family during this difficult time. But just think, Papa Ramsey has climbed those glorious steps to heaven."
The late Alex C. Harvin said, after the state House of Representatives passed a resolution in 2004 recognizing Ramsey's service to Clarendon County both as a superintendent and a County Council member, that he was "an effective leader who always listened to his constituents."
"His prior service as a superintendent was invaluable during his time on the County Council," Harvin told The Manning Times in 2004. "Knowing exactly what the needs of the school district were, and knowing that county council does handle some appropriations for the district, he was of a great service to the Manning community and Clarendon as a whole."
Harvin said that constituents were never far from Ramsey's mind while he served on council.
"He always had their best interests at heart," Harvin said. "It's a great loss to the county for him to leave council, I believe."
Overall, Ramsey taught math and science and served as head football coach in high schools in Georgia and South Carolina before he began his career in administration.
Ramsey served as a school superintendent in Charleston, Barnwell, and Clarendon counties over a span of 26 years. In three of the four school districts he served, Ramsey played a vital role in the elimination of the dual school system and the integration process which followed.
During Ramsey’s administration in Clarendon County, the district received academic recognition when Manning Primary School was designated as Center of Excellence by the National Council of Teachers of English. The school district was also featured in a South Carolina Educational Television documentary entitled “Public Education: A Success Story.” The school district was featured in Newsweek Magazine and the Chicago Tribune.
In 1988, Ramsey was selected by the South Carolina School Board Association as Superintendent of the Year. That same year, Executive Educator Magazine named him one of the Top 100 School Executives in North America. After his retirement, he served as consultant to the South Carolina State Department. Ramsey was a member of the Board of Directors of the South Carolina Association of School Superintendents and a Rotarian. He was a trustee of the Baptist Courier.
He was also active as an adult Sunday school teacher at Manning First Baptist Church and was an ordained deacon and licensed to preach.
Survivors besides his wife of 65 years include two daughters, Gail Barwick of Manning and Amy Black (John) of Oakboro, North Carolina; a son, Dr. Kyle H. Ramsey (Kathleen) of Naperville, Illinois; a sister, Rebecca Deane White of Benton, Arkansas; 11 grandchildren; and 11 great-grandchildren.
In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by a son, Dr. Carl B. Ramsey Jr.; a daughter, Ann Louise Ramsey; a brother, Walter H. Ramsey; and a sister, Jimmie Rae Curtis.
Visitation was held Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2017, at Stephens Funeral Home, and at other times at the home, 426 Old Georgetown Road in Manning.
A funeral service was helfd 10 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 2, 2017, at Manning First Baptist Church, with the Rev. John C. Black officiating.
A graveside service was held Thursday, Feb. 2, 2017, at Cedar Shoals Baptist Church Cemetery, 1045 Cooley Bridge Road in Belton, South Carolina.
