OBITUARIES
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2013
QUENTIN L. GREEN Quentin Laverne Green 36, husband of Angela Simmons, died Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2013. Born June 28, 1977, in Sumter, he was a son of Earl Green and Willie Mae Ceasar Murdock. Survivors include his wife; father; mother; two brothers, Anthony Ceasar and Cedric Green, both of Wedgefield; two sisters, Ericka M. Rembert Smith of Orlando, Fla., and Jacqueline Rembert of Columbia; and his maternal grandmother, Clara Mae Ceasar of Florence. Funeral services will be held at 1 p.m. Tuesday in the Elmore-Cannon-Stephens Funeral
Home chapel with the Rev. Ericka M. Rembert Smith officiating. Burial will be in the Goodwill Presbyterian Church cemetery. Elmore-Cannon-Stephens Funeral Home and Crematorium of Sumter is in charge of the arrangements.
REVA C. HACKWORTH Reva Pauline Longmire Cubbage Hackworth, 91, passed away peacefully at her daughter’s home surrounded by her family on Saturday, Nov. 2, 2013. She was born in Oliver Springs, Tenn., on Oct. 3, 1922, the daughter of the late Phair and Lavica Longmire. Surviving are her children, Reva Kestner
(Don) of Glade Springs, Va., Elizabeth Smith (Bill) of Coos Bay, Ore., John Thomas Cubbage Jr. (Jane Whit) of Irmo, Jeanette Lewis (Jim) of Roanoke, Va., Sally Neese (Marvin) of Irmo and Mary Smothers of Coos Bay, Ore.; nine grandchildren; and 20 great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by John Thomas Cubbage Sr. and Kenneth O. Hackworth; and her son, Clarence David Cubbage. A graveside service will be held at 11 a.m. Tuesday in the Sumter Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Dalzell Baptist Church, P.O. Box 68, Dalzell, SC 29040.
Elmore-Cannon-Stephens Funeral Home and Crematorium of Sumter is in charge of the arrangements.
LEROY SIMS Sr. WORCESTER, Mass. — Leroy Sims Sr., 69, was born July 27, 1944, son of the late William and Lessie Johnson Sims in Sumter. Mr. Sims was married to Susan Washington Sims. He departed this life on Oct. 31, 2013, at Saint Vincent Hospital in Worcester. The family is receiving friends at the home of his son and daughter-in-law, the Rev. and Mrs. Leroy Sims Jr., 1749 Polaris Drive, Sumter, SC 29150.
THE ITEM
GARY LEE HUGHES Gary Lee Hughes, 73, widower of Merline Wilson Hughes, died Saturday, Nov. 2, 2013, at his home. Born in Altoona, Pa., he was a son of the late Howard Hughes and Alice Kaiser Hughes. Mr. Hughes was an Air Force veteran and retired from Santee Print Works. Surviving are his son, Gary D. Hughes and his wife, Tammie, of Sumter; and four brothers, Dennis Hughes and Robert Hughes of Pennsylvania, Charles Hughes of Washington and Donald Hughes of Indiana. Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Wednesday in the chapel
A11
of the Elmore Hill McCreight Funeral Home. Burial will follow in the Evergreen Memorial Park Cemetery with full military honors. The family will receive friends from 5 to 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Elmore Hill McCreight Funeral Home and other times at the home, 514 Laurens Ave. Online condolences may be sent to www. sumterfunerals.com. Elmore Hill McCreight Funeral Home, 221 Broad St., Sumter, is in charge of the arrangements. (803) 7759386
STATE
|
Monks’ lives the same even with additions at abbey MONCKS CORNER (AP) — The daily cycle of work, worship and contemplation at Mepkin Abbey still follows the simple pattern that Trappist monks have observed for a thousand years. But in recent months there have been some changes at the South Carolina monastery near Charleston. A new retreat center and chapel were dedicated in late August. Also in the summer, the first phase of Mepkin’s columbarium, where ashes are inurned, was completed. The community of 15 monks, following the monastic tradition, has always welcomed visitors. But before the completion of the St. Francis Retreat Center, those visitors stayed in worn cottages and a mobile home. The new retreat center — with its minimalist rooms, constructed only of wood, glass, concrete and steel — has 16 rooms for visitors. It hosts about 1,500 a year, many seeking to experience something of the contemplative life or simply find peace and quiet to reflect. “It’s a place to listen to your heart, to listen to God,� Abbot Stan Gumula said. The abbey, founded in
1949, sits on a tree-lined bluff overlooking the Cooper River about 35 miles from Charleston. It’s just outside Moncks Corner — although the town name has nothing to do with the abbey. The town was founded by a man named Thomas Monck in 1728. The retreat center rooms include a bed, a couple of chairs, a reading light, a desk with a Bible, bare walls and a bathroom. There are no TVs or radios and no cellphone reception inside thanks to the steel roof. “It’s unlike other retreat facility because it’s very stark. It’s beautiful. It’s cut to the essentials,� the abbot said. There’s no cost, although most of those who come for visits leave a donation. There is a requirement that during a stay, visitors remain at the abbey. That helps prevent them from staying and then driving off to visit Charleston or the beach. “It’s not a tourist destination,� Gumula said. The simple architecture is echoed in the Father Francis Kline Memorial Chapel that stands at one end of the retreat center. No services are held in the chapel named for a former abbot; it is simply for prayer.
BIG KOUNTRY from Page A1 an investigator — when a black male in dark clothing with a mask covering his face reportedly approached and shot Eppling multiple times. “He never said nothing,� according to two witnesses who saw the shooter, said Wayne DuBose, Sumter County Sheriff’s Office investigator. The shooter then ran to a parked car that sped off down Edgehill Road, leaving investigators with no clear motive for why Eppling died on the ground beside the apartment trash bin. “We followed up on our leads, mostly stuff from the rumor mill,� DuBose said, although he insists the case remains an active investigation. “We have people of interest, but we just can’t prove anything.� By all accounts, Eppling was a well-liked young man with no obvious enemies, a former baseball player at Crestwood High School who continued his passion with the Highway 521 AllStars and who doted on his 1989 Mercury Grand Marquis. The killing was devastating for Eppling’s parents. “He was a good son,� mother Nancy Eppling
said. “He was the light of our lives.� At the time of his death, Eppling spent his mornings attending Central Carolina Technical College, where he expressed an interest in studying criminal justice, and his evenings at his job assembling fuse boxes at Eaton. At night, he spent time with his girlfriend and went out with his buddies. “He was trying to get his life on track,� father Danny Eppling said. “He was kind of a late starter being 25, but Kyle was strong-headed. You couldn’t tell him nothing.� His parents are as in the dark about the reasons for their son’s shooting as investigators. Danny Eppling wonders about a mysterious night a few months earlier when Eppling was beaten outside a bar by men he never identified to his parents. After speaking with most of the residents at Oakland Plantation about the shooting, sheriff’s investigators developed the theory that Eppling may have simply been the unfortunate victim of a dispute between groups of individuals around the apartment
PHOTOS BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
ABOVE: The new Father Francis Kline Memorial Chapel is seen at the retreat center at the Mepkin Abbey in Moncks Corner. The abbey hosts about 1,500 people a year who want to experience the contemplative life. RIGHT: Abbot Stan Gumula discusses recent additions at Mepkin Abbey during an interview in Moncks Corner recently.
complex. Law enforcement had been notified of previous altercations at the apartments between people who were seen with guns, but Eppling wasn’t present for those incidents. The night he was shot, Eppling might have simply been the first person encountered by a gunman responding to some previous offense — the wrong place at the wrong time. Suspects have been questioned by the sheriff’s office, but investigators think someone yet to come forward still has the information or evidence needed to make an arrest. “We’ve got the puzzle, we’ve got the pieces; now we just need to put them together,� DuBose said. Eppling’s parents have struggled to deal with their son’s death. Danny Eppling said he’s suffered three heart attacks since Kyle was killed. They take
25% OFF STOREWIDE excluding layaways or past purchase
JEWELRY WHOLESALE & 8FTNBSL #MWE t 778-1031
solace in what his father calls “the little things,� like the memory of the last Christmas of Eppling’s life, when he was up early enough to go with Danny on a Black Friday shopping trip. The older man is also comforted by his continuing belief that justice will be done. “There will be a resolution, whether it’s with this (sheriff’s) department or somewhere else,� Danny Eppling said. “Somebody’s got to crack or talk somewhere.� Anyone with information on Eppling’s death is encouraged to call the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office at (803) 436-2000 or Crime Stoppers at 1-888-CRIME-SC (2746372).
SHOOTER from Page A1 “Black, white, yellow, brown, I don’t discriminate,� the note read, according to a paraphrase by a law enforcement official briefed on the investigation. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly. The suspect’s screed also mentioned “fiat currency� and “NWO,� possible references to the New World Order, a conspiracy theory that foresees a totalitarian one-world government. By all accounts, Ciancia was reserved and solitary. Former classmates barely remember him, and even a recent roommate could say little about the young man who moved from New Jersey to Los Angeles less than two years ago. Ciancia, who was shot four times by airport police, remained hospitalized Saturday, but there was no word on his condition. He was wounded in the mouth and the leg, authorities said. Ciancia’s father called police in New Jersey, worried about his son in L.A. The young man had sent texts to his family that suggested he might be in trouble, at one point even saying goodbye.
FREE
VETERANS SPACE Available to Both Veteran & Spouse
Call NOW to Reserve Your Space
803-773-6237
EVERGREEN & HILLSIDE MEMORIAL PARKS / (VJHOBSE %SJWF r 4VNUFS 4$ -JNJUFE 5JNF 0GGFS $FSUBJO 3FTUSJDUJPOT "QQMZ