Phil Huff Sawyer Sr.

COLUMBIA Memorial service for Phil Huff Sawyer, Sr., Ph.D., 84, will be held at 11:00 a.m. Thursday, July 2, 2015, at St. Martin’s-in-the-Fields, with burial in Oak View Cemetery, Salley, S.C. The family will receive friends from 5 until 7:00 p.m. Wednesday, July 1, 2015, at Dunbar Funeral Home, Devine Street Chapel. Dr. Sawyer died Saturday, June 27, 2015. Born in Salley, he was a son of the late Dan Henderson Sawyer, Sr. and Vivian Huff Sawyer. Dr. Sawyer earned his undergraduate, graduate and Doctorate degrees from the University of South Carolina. He was a U.S. Army veteran who also spent 40 years as a Fort Jackson civilian employee. As Education Services Officer at Fort Jackson, Dr. Sawyer was responsible for an extensive continuing education program. His leadership, commitment to excellence and innovative techniques provided soldiers and family members with exceptional on-post educational opportunities. He received many awards for meritorious service including the Army’s Military Educator of the Year. As an outstanding leader in Army Education, Dr. Sawyer volunteered to be part of numerous programs that promote soldier education. He was a pioneer in using technology in education and a supporter of computer-based instruction. He enjoyed being a mentor to his employees at Fort Jackson and educators within the Army. He was especially proud that his efforts helped land the first facility ever constructed by the Army as a dedicated education facility built at Fort Jackson. He truly believed in life-long learning as after his retirement he enrolled in history courses at USC accumulating an additional 60 credit hours of coursework. His stated philosophy was, “There are no problems in education, only opportunities.” Fort Jackson and the Army were fortunate to have experienced his vision, mentorship and leadership. As a young man, Dr. Sawyer was very active in the Jaycees and was president of the Richland Sertoma Club. He credited these early positive experiences as contributing to his success in later life. He was also proud of his opportunity to serve on the Vestry at St. Martin’s-in-the- Fields and being a lay reader at Still Hopes Episcopal Retirement Community. His favorite pastime was listening to beach music and dancing the shag, the official state dance of both Carolinas. He was instrumental in establishing the Association of Carolina Shag Clubs (ACSC) composed of approximately 100 local shag clubs throughout the United States, serving as chairman from 1987 through 1989. As chairman, he was instrumental in acquiring for the ACSC ownership of the Society of Stranders, Inc. (SOS). He served as its president from 1989 through 2000 and president emeritus from 2001 until his death in 2015. SOS is a highly successful organization devoted to the Shag dance, beach music, and good times and is composed of approximately fifteen thousand individual members. As tributes to his many contributions to the shag dance and its lifestyle, Dr. Sawyer was awarded the Shagging ICON award, ACSC Lifetime Achievement Award, and the establishment of the Dr. Phil Sawyer Endowment Fund (currently with principal endowment in excess of $120,000) to provide scholarships to the University of South Carolina’s Department of Theatre and Dance. Dr. Sawyer’s unwavering commitment to the Shag motivated him to coauthor a book with writer Tom Poland entitled Save the Last Dance for Me (A Love Story of the Shag and the Society of Stranders.) Surviving are his wife, Delora (Chick) Sawyer; son, Phil Huff Sawyer Jr., both of Columbia, and daughter, Dell Sawyer Martin (Donald), of Gilbert. In addition to his parents, he was predeceased by his brother, Dan Henderson Sawyer, Jr. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Dr. Phil Sawyer Endowment Fund, Attn: Gift Processing, USC Educational Foundation, 1027 Barnwell Street, Columbia, SC 29208, the National Parkinson Foundation, Gift Processing Center, P.O. Box 5018, Hagerstown, MD 21741 or the charity of one’s choice The Sawyer Family wishes to express their sincere thanks and gratitude to the staff of Providence Hospital, 5th Floor Heart Wing and to the staff of the Sanders R. Guignard Rehabilitation Suite at Still Hopes Episcopal Retirement Community. “Thank ya’ll for being so nice,” says Miss Chick.