George "Sugar" Strother Hill

George “Sugar” Strother Hill, 90, of Orangeburg and the Isle of Palms, husband of Bessie Connor Wolfe Hill for 68 years, passed away peacefully on January 16, 2018. His graveside service will be held Thursday, January 18, 2018, in Memorial Park Cemetery, 2720 Broughton Street, Orangeburg, at 2:00 PM. A visitation will be held Wednesday, January 17, 2018, at the family home in Orangeburg, from 5:00 to 7:00 PM.

Sugar was born June 22, 1927, in Greenwood, South Carolina, son of Burrow and Goodlette Hill. After growing up in Orangeburg, Sugar entered The Citadel before joining the Army and serving in Italy during WWII. Upon returning home, Sugar married his sweetheart Bess and completed his degree in Civil Engineering at The Citadel. Sugar worked his entire career in road construction with the Mims family of J.F. Cleckley & Co. out of Orangeburg, learning almost every back road in South Carolina in the process. Sugar spent most weekends at his beach house and dock on the Isle of Palms, where he taught several generations to water ski (“Time and tide wait for no man”) and pull the net for shrimp in the creeks (“Two mo’ weeks”). He was also known for his Citadel football tailgate parties where he served his famous giant boiled peanuts and his annual Christmas Eve party at his home in Orangeburg that ran for decades – no invitations were ever sent, but it was crowded every year as locals just knew to show up at Sugar’s and Bess’s. Sugar was active in many organizations, including the Thalian Club of Orangeburg, the Orangeburg Country Club, the Auldbrass Hunt Club, the Lobster Club, the Saturday Night Supper Club, the Corsair Club, The Citadel Brigadier Club, and most recently the ROMEO (Retired Old Men Eating Out) Club of Mt Pleasant.

In addition to his wife, Bess, of Orangeburg, he is survived by his three daughters: Ruth Wolfe Hill of Asheville, NC; Mary Connor Hill Gantt (John) of Isle Of Palms, SC; George Goodlette Hill Lupton (Cartter) of Mount Pleasant, SC; a brother: Edwin Burrow Hill, Jr. of Charleston, SC; seven grandchildren: Bessie Gantt (Will Bagwell), Harriette Calder (Michael), Alice Jenkins (Geoff), Connor Boyle, Mackall Horres (Glenn), John Lupton (Danyelle), and Betsey Lupton; and fifteen great-grandchildren: Emily Horres, Caroline Horres, George Bagwell, James Bagwell, John Bagwell, Elly Calder, Simmons Calder, Charlotte Jenkins, Maddux Chevalier, Ernie Horres, Thomas Jenkins, Cartter Lupton, Annabelle Boyle, Goody Horres, and Wylie Calder.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the First Presbyterian Church, 650 Summers Avenue, Orangeburg, the Citadel Brigadier Club, 171 Moultrie Street, Charleston, or the charity of your choice.