B4
OBITUARIES
THE ITEM
CHARLES WEBSTER Charles Webster, 78, husband of Dorothy Cocklin Webster, died June 11, 2013, at Tuomey Regional Medical Center. Born in Baltimore, Md., he was a son of the late Lee and Irene Altson Webster. The family will receive friends at 2161 Tanglewood Road, Sumter, SC 29154. Funeral arrangements are incomplete and will be announced by Palmer Memorial Chapel Inc. of Sumter. SITTIPOL PROMMASIT FLORENCE — Sittipol Prommasit, 53, of Florence, died Tuesday, June 11, 2013, at his residence after an illness. He was born in Thailand, a son of Kumplang Taraseungnearn Willey and the late William Louis Willey. He was formerly employed with King Cadillac in Florence for 16 years before retiring. He was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and served his country in the United States Marine Corps. Survivors in addition to his mother are his wife, Julie Prommasit of Florence; two children, William Michael Prommasit of New York City and Derek Pepper Prommasit of Gainesville, Fla.; two sisters, Marie Carol Geddings of Sumter and Jaew Chaveewan of Thailand; and one brother, Michael Louis Willey of Greenville. Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. today at Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Florence. Interment will follow at 3
p.m. in Evergreen Cemetery in Sumter with military honors. Cain Funeral Home of Florence is in charge of arrangements. www. cainfuneralhome.com
ANNIE M. DINGLE COLUMBIA — Annie Verna McFadden Dingle, widow of Wendell Dingle, exchanged time for eternity on Tuesday, June 11,2013, at Palmetto Health Richland. Born on Wednesday, Nov. 15, 1933, in Manning, she was a daughter of the late William and Ada Bell Witherspoon McFadden. The family is receiving relatives and friends at the residence of her brother and sister-inlaw, Willie James and Juanita McFadden, 5424 Silver Road, Manning. Funeral arrangements are incomplete and will be announced by Fleming & Delaine Funeral Home & Chapel. GERALD R. EVANS ALCOLU — Gerald Randolph “Jerry” Evans, 79, beloved husband of 60 years to Julia Valorie DuBose Evans, died Tuesday, June 11, 2013, at Palmetto Health Richland hospital. Born Aug. 10, 1933, in Turbeville, he was a son of the late Billy Mac Evans and Myrtle Tomlinson Evans. A tribute from the family — Today we buried the earthly shell of what was our husband, dad and granddad. We want to remember how he enjoyed life, loved his family, church and the Lord. Fighting a good fight and never giving up, his greatest wish was that all of his
family and friends would come to know his Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, and he would see them in heaven, where he is walking now on the streets of gold with both legs “perfect.” He is survived by his wife of Alcolu; a son, Gerald Ray Evans (Lynn) of Alcolu; three daughters, Randi Evans Palmer (Jim) of Summerville, Cindy Evans Geddings (Ray) of Alcolu and Tammy Evans Prabhakaran (N.K.) of Ridgeway; 10 grandchildren, Jeremy Evans (Carol), Jessica Gabert, Jamie Palmer (Amanda), Jason Palmer (Katie), Justin Palmer (Nicole), Shawn Depuy (Matthew), Nathan Prabhakaran, Aaron Prabhakaran, Alisha Prabhakaran and Micah Prabhakaran; two stepgrandchildren, Anthony Geddings (Jessica) and Erica Geddings Charles (Jamie); nine greatgrandchildren; and a faithful and longtime caring friend, Donald Morris. A funeral service will be held at 2 p.m. Friday at Clarendon Baptist Church with Dr. Norman Rogers, the Rev. Michael DeCosta and Dr. Jim Palmer officiating. Burial will follow in Clarendon Memorial Gardens. Visitation will be one hour prior to the service on Friday at Clarendon Baptist Church. Memorials may be made to Clarendon Baptist Church Missions, P.O. Box 307, Alcolu, SC 29001. Stephens Funeral Home & Crematory, 304 N. Church St., Manning, is in charge of arrangements, (803) 435-2179.
THURSDAY, JUNE 13, 2013
www.stephensfuneralhome.org
MARIE F. KENNEDY NEW ZION — Marie Fulton Kennedy, 98, widow of Melvin Louis Kennedy Sr., died Tuesday, June 11, 2013, at her residence, 14064 U.S. 301 North, Sardina. She was born May 26, 1915, in the New Zion section of Clarendon County, a daughter of the late Sidney and Rosa Cooper Fulton. The family is receiving friends at the residence. These services have been entrusted to Samuels Funeral Home LLC of Manning. WANDA BENENHALEY EASTOVER — Wanda Benenhaley, 60, died Tuesday, June 11, 2013, at her home. Born in Sumter, she was a daughter of the late Carl and Kathleen Hood Benenhaley. Surviving are one son, Tony Anthony Benenhaley of Dalzell; one sister, Barbara Benenhaley of Eastover; one brother, Linton Benenhaley (Johanna) of Fayetteville, N.C.; numerous nieces and nephews, including Nikki Garber and her fiancé, Brian Dively. Funeral services will be held at 3 p.m. Friday at Long Branch Baptist Church with the Rev. Robert Morris officiating. Burial will be in the church cemetery. The family will receive friends from 6 to 7 p.m. today at Elmore Hill McCreight Funeral Home. Online condolences may be sent to www. sumterfunerals.com. Elmore Hill Mc-
Creight Funeral Home & Crematory, 221 Broad St., Sumter, is in charge of the arrangements, (803) 775-9386.
JANE C. MAYES MAYESVILLE — Jane Elizabeth Chappell Mayes, 92, widow of William Rhodes Mayes, died Wednesday, June 12, 2013, at her home. Services will be announced by Elmore Hill McCreight Funeral Home & Crematory, 221 Broad St., Sumter, (803) 775-9386.
ZAII-VION WALTERS Little Master Zaii-Vion Walters died Wednesday, June 12, 2013, at Tuomey Regional Medical Center. Born on Feb. 26, 2013, in Sumter County, he was a son of Davion Walters Sr. and Mary Woods. The family will receive friends and relatives at the home of Tracellar Smith, 427 Robney Drive, Sumter. Funeral arrangements are incomplete and will be announced by Williams Funeral Home Inc. of Sumter. BETTY R. PETERSON Betty Ruth Peterson, 76, widow of Willie Pinkney Sr., died Tuesday, June 11, 2013, at her home. Born on Dec. 24,
1936, in Sumter County, she was a daughter of Hayes and Gardenia Robinson Peterson. The family will receive friends and relatives at her home, 203 E. Moore St., Sumter. Funeral arrangements are incomplete and will be announced by Williams Funeral Home Inc. of Sumter.
SAMUEL RICHARDSON Samuel “Nomore” Richardson, 89, widower of Winnie McDowell Richardson, died Wednesday, June 12, 2013, at Sumter Valley Nursing Home and Rehabilitation Center. Born on July 2, 1923, in Lee County, he was a son of the late Frank and Phyllis Jenkins Richardson. The family will receive friends and relatives at the home of Andrew and Janiece Little, 1017 Decatur St., Sumter. Funeral arrangements are incomplete and will be announced by Williams Funeral Home Inc. of Sumter. GWEN I. GRANT Gwen Iris Grant, 63, passed away Saturday, June 7, 2013, at New York Methodist Hospital, Brooklyn, N.Y. Born Feb. 13, 1950, in Sumter County, she was a daughter of Rheatis Robinson Grant and the late Silas Grant. The family will receive friends and relatives at the family home, 3855 Peach Orchard Road, Dalzell. Funeral arrangements are incomplete and will be announced by Williams Funeral Home Inc. of Sumter.
SPORTS
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BRUNSON from Page B1
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
North Carolina State players celebrate the school’s first trip to the College World Series since 1968 on Sunday in Raleigh, N.C. The Wolfpack’s opening opponent will be hated ACC rival North Carolina.
N.C. State ready for rival UNC in Omaha BY AARON BEARD The Associated Press RALEIGH, N.C. — North Carolina State waited a long time to make it back to the College World Series. It only makes it sweeter that the first opponent will be the Wolfpack’s hated rival. N.C. State (49-14) is leaving for Omaha on Wednesday, the program’s first trip to the CWS since 1968 and just the second overall. Its opener comes Sunday against North Carolina, the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA tournament. The last time the teams met, the Tar Heels won 2-1 in 18 innings over Memorial Day weekend in the longest game in Atlantic Coast Conference tournament history. “It definitely is meaningful because we owe them another game,’’ N.C. State senior Tarran Senay said.
“We owe them our best. It’s going to be tough, but it’s going to be fun. It’s a big one.’’ The Wolfpack advanced to Omaha with two one-run wins against Rice in last weekend’s super regionals here. In the second game, N.C. State had to rally from three down in the ninth before finally winning 5-4 in 17 innings in the longest super regional game ever. It was a breakthrough for a program that has reached the NCAA tournament in 10 of 11 years and reached the super regionals three times during that span. N.C. State had lost at Miami in 2003, Georgia in 2008 and Florida last year in what amounted to the same frustrating roadblock. N.C. State coach Elliott Avent said he went right back to work preparing for Omaha after the Rice win. But he gave his players two days off to savor
the moment while he started sorting through the congratulatory messages from former players. “It’s been a process,’’ Avent said of the Wolfpack’s climb. “Every person from Joey Devine to Aaron Bates and every person that I’ve heard from ... the phone calls, the text messages, the tweets, the emails, it’s just been so special because everyone knows they’ve been a part of this.’’ Avent has 648 wins in his 17 seasons and became the program’s winningest coach in 2010, passing Sam Esposito — the coach who led the 1968 team to its only previous College World Series. N.C. State had to wait two days to find out who it would face in its CWS opener. North Carolina’s 3-game super regional series with South Carolina was delayed two days due to weather before the Tar Heels won Tuesday’s decisive game 5-4.
the season. Also, what may be lost on many people is Carolina accomplished the majority of this season using basically five lefthanded pitchers: Montgomery, Nolan Belcher, Jack Wynkoop, Adam Westmoreland and Tyler Webb. Right-hander Colby Holmes, who had been a solid and sometimes spectacular starting pitcher the two previous seasons, never got into a groove at any time and was really a non-factor down the stretch. The same can be said of righty Evan Beal, who came to Columbia with all kinds of accolades, but hasn’t lived up to them. Also, Forrest Koumas, a standout starter as a freshman in 2011, was again hampered by injuries and ineffectiveness. The likes of Michael Roth, Matt Price, John Taylor and Jose Mata were gone, so the fact USC was so close to making it to Omaha four years in a row was actually quite an accomplishment. There’s no doubt the ultra success of the past three seasons has left USC fans a bit spoiled and perhaps having lost some perspective on how difficult it is to make it Omaha. Last year’s national champion, Arizona, didn’t even make the field this year. Last year’s CWS darling, Stony Brook, didn’t even make a ripple this year. Florida, one of the “greatest teams ever” two years ago, shouldn’t have been in the tournament this year and finished 29-30. Then you have those five national seeds — Vanderbilt anyone? — who are sitting at home with Carolina. If you’re a Gamecock fan, you don’t want falling short in a Super Regional to be habit-forming, but those who are out on the ledge need to take a look and appreciate this program as one of the two or three best in the country.