ATLANTA, Ga. - Russell Calvin King Jr., a 1956 Wofford graduate and former trustee and chairman of the college board of trustees, died Sunday in Atlanta. Mr. King was born Oct.r 25, 1934, in Columbia, S.C., the only child of Russell C. King Sr., a lifelong educator, and Beulah Wingard King, a musician and homemaker. He grew up in Darlington, where his parents taught the value of discipline, hard work, scholastics, and volunteerism.
A graduate of St. John High School in Darlington, Mr. King earned his degree in economics and business administration from Wofford College in 1956. He went on to complete graduate studies at Harvard and the University of North Carolina. He served eight years as an officer in the U.S. Army on active duty or reserve status, retiring as a captain. Mr. King relied upon his educational training, leadership skills, disciplined nature and engaging wit to fulfill his American dream.
Immediately following college graduation, he joined Sonoco Products Co. as a management trainee. In his 38 years with Sonoco, he was promoted through 19 positions of increasing responsibility for the multi-billion Fortune 500 diversified packaging company, ultimately being appointed to serve as president and chief operating officer in July 1990. As the first person outside the company's founding family to attain this position, Mr. King served in this capacity until he retired in May 1994. During his business career he served on several corporate boards including Sonoco Products Co., United Dominion Industries, Integrated Business Systems, and Crescent Capital Fund. Because of his upbringing and understanding for the power of volunteerism, he also served in community action roles for various United Methodist churches of which he was a member, Rotary Club (President), Little League Baseball (President), Boy Scout District Commissioner, County Board of Education, and many others.
In addition to his service for boards of other companies, Mr. King dedicated his time and talents to his alma mater, serving two terms on the Wofford College Board of Trustees for a total of 16 years, and was chairman of the board from 1986-1988 and from 1998-2002. In 2003, Mr. King was awarded the Wofford Distinguished Service Award and in 2006, an honorary doctorate degree. He also served on the board of the Independent Colleges and Universities for the state of South Carolina and is a lifetime trustee as a member of the board of trustees of Coker College in Hartsville.
An avid sportsman, Mr. King lettered in baseball and football in high school, was a versatile baseball player at Wofford with a .350+ batting average, and was pursued by five major league teams during his tenure there. To his surprise, Wofford named the 2,500-seat baseball field on their campus in his honor in 2004, and Mr. King threw out the first pitch on March 10, 2004, and then enjoyed the rest of the game from the rocking chair porch overlooking the field.
Mr. King and his wife, Kathy, retired in Atlanta in 1995, where he did some independent consulting and was a member of Peachtree Road United Methodist Church where he served on the Administrative Board, volunteered as an usher, and was a member of the Blazers Sunday School. He also volunteered at St Joseph's Hospital and was member of the Buckhead Club. In his retirement, Mr. King found great joy in returning to his roots and giving back to the communities who had given him much. His family's 900-acre farm, in Darlington and Lee counties in South Carolina, was restored as a tree farm, and land from this expanse was given to a United Methodist congregation to build a neighborhood church. His mother grew up in Lexington, S.C., in a farmhouse that now serves as a part of the Lexington County Museum of History. Mr. King gave additional property next door to the original farmhouse to be established as a garden in memory of his mother, and to be used to educate children on gardening's benefits.
Mr. King is survived by his wife, Kathryn R. King and three children - Russell C. King III, Ashley King Kerr, and Franklin Scott King (married to Kara King), from his marriage to Virginia M. King. They have blessed the King family with six grandchildren and one great-grandchild, who were the apple of his eye.
Mr. King had experienced declining health for the past five years after being diagnosed with primary progressive aphasia, a form of dementia. The King family is appreciative of the loving care given to Mr. King over that period by his personal caregiver, Vera Brown, and the staff at Cobblestone at Park Springs.
In lieu of flowers, memorials can be sent to Wofford College, Office of Development, 429 North Church Street, Spartanburg, S.C. 29303 or the Employee Appreciation Fund Foundation at Park Springs, via Dave Buehler, fund administrator, 4204 Springhouse Circle, Stone Mountain, Ga. 30087. A service will be held at Peachtree Road United Methodist Church (404-266-2373) on Tuesday (Aug. 16), followed by a reception and a private burial on Thursday (Aug. 18) in Hartsville.
