Mr. Charles Wendell McAlister

COLUMBIA - A funeral service to celebrate the life of Mr. Charles Wendell McAlister, fondly known as Coach Mac, of Columbia, S.C. will be held at 2:00 p.m. Thursday, March 9, 2017 at Asbury Memorial United Methodist Church, the Rev. Cynthia Taylor will officiate. Burial will follow in Greenlawn Memorial Park. The family will receive friends from 5 until 7:00 p.m. Wednesday, March 8, 2017, at Dunbar Funeral Home, Devine Street Chapel. Memorials may be made to Asbury Memorial United Methodist Church, 1005 Asbury Drive, Columbia, SC 29209 or Hammond School, 854 Galway Ln, Columbia, SC 29209. Charles went to be with the Lord, Sunday, March 5, 2017 at home surrounded by family, passing only after a celebration of his life by his extended basketball family earlier that evening. He was a devoted husband, father, grandfather and basketball coach. Born August 13, 1940, in Lake City, S.C. son of the late Jaseph Theodore McAlister and Annie Lee McAlister, brother to the late Van McAlister, married to Patricia Lynn McAlister, for 51 years. He was a graduate of Dreher High School and Wofford College. While at Wofford he became a Letterman and a member of the Kappa Alpha Order. A man who was the perfect model of a Christian centered life allowing the Holy Spirit to shine through him each day. Charles was an active member in the Columbia community, Forest Lake Country Club, charter member of Asbury Memorial UMC and the present Chairman of the Staff Parish Relations Committee, at Asbury Memorial UMC. He was also past Chair of Church Council and Lay Leader of the United Methodist Church. He served as a Corpsman in the US Navy, a member of the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry and a Jamil Temple Shriner. He served as President of the Greater Columbia Home Builders Association in 1972 and President of the Home Builders Association of South Carolina in 1976 then as the Assistant Director of the Residential Builders Commission. He was also the past Chairman of the state convention, past President of the National Association of the State Contracting Agencies and served on the Richland Planning Commission. Charles assisted in drafting the Builders Construction Standards, co-authored Home Builders Licensing, and was a South Carolina Sub-contractor, and conducted Home Inspection laws and State Building Standards. He was awarded Builder of the year in 1976 and was elected to the South Carolina Housing Hall of Fame 2001. Coach Mac touched the lives of many generations of basketball players at Hammond School and in the community for 24 years; accumulating 496 wins and 8 state championships including both a boys and girls championship of 1991. The South Carolina state legislature declared January 26th “Coach Mac Day”. Charles is survived by his daughters, Lynn McAlister Sjostrom (Terry Sjostrom) of Marietta, GA., Lee Anne Nidiffer (David Nidiffer, Jr.) of Columbia; brothers, Jay McAlister (Beverly McAlister) of Columbia, Keith McAlister (Vickie McAlister) of Richburg; sister-in-law, Addie McAlister of Columbia; grandchildren, Lauren Dasher (Wesley Dasher, III), David Nidiffer, III, Jake Nidiffer and Anne Nidiffer of Columbia; and many nieces and nephews.