2005-2006 Bill 3769: Lowell C. Butch Spires, Jr. - South Carolina Legislature Online

1 South Carolina General Assembly 2 116th Session, 2005-2006 3 4 H. 3769 5 6 STATUS INFORMATION 7 8 Concurrent Resolution 9 Sponsors: Reps. Bingham, Ballentine, Clark, Frye, Haley, Huggins, McLeod, Ott, E.H. Pitts and Toole 10 Document Path: l:\council\bills\gjk\20333sd05.doc 11 12 Introduced in the House on March 15, 2005 13 Introduced in the Senate on March 15, 2005 14 Adopted by the General Assembly on March 15, 2005 15 16 Summary: Lowell C. "Butch" Spires, Jr. 17 18 19 HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS 20 21 Date Body Action Description with journal page number 22 3/15/2005 House Introduced, adopted, sent to Senate HJ-56 23 3/15/2005 Senate Introduced, adopted, returned with concurrence SJ-17 24 25 26 VERSIONS OF THIS BILL 27 28 3/15/2005 29 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 10 11 TO EXPRESS THE DEEPEST SYMPATHY OF THE 12 MEMBERS OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY TO THE FAMILY 13 AND MANY FRIENDS OF LOWELL C. “BUTCH” SPIRES, 14 JR., OF LEXINGTON COUNTY UPON HIS DEATH AND TO 15 EXPRESS THE GRATITUDE OF THE CITIZENS OF 16 LEXINGTON COUNTY, THE MIDLANDS REGION, AND 17 THE STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA FOR HIS MANY 18 CONTRIBUTIONS TO HIS COMMUNITY, COUNTY, AND 19 STATE. 20 21 Whereas, the members of the General Assembly were deeply 22 saddened to learn of the death of Lowell C. “Butch” Spires, Jr., of 23 Lexington County on Monday, March 14, 2005; and 24 25 Whereas, in taking the sum total of his accomplishments into 26 account, Butch Spires, was one of the most effective leaders ever 27 to have served in local government in South Carolina; and 28 29 Whereas, he began his career as a public official as a member and 30 later chairman of the Lexington County Recreation Commission 31 from 1970-1977, and he was elected to Lexington County Council 32 in 1977 where he served until 1995; and 33 34 Whereas, he was the first member of Lexington County Council to 35 be elected from District 9, served as chairman of county council in 36 1979, 1991, and 1993, vice chairman in 1983, 1985, and 1986, and 37 in 1989 he was elected president of the South Carolina Association 38 of Counties; and 39 40 Whereas, Butch Spires worked with the Central Midlands Council 41 of Governments for over twenty years and served as chairman of 42 the Council of Governments from 1978-1980 and from 1994-1995.

1 [3769] 1 1 In this capacity, he spearheaded funding and construction of 2 highway improvements in the Central Midlands Region, assisted in 3 securing funding to ensure continued development of Riverbanks 4 Zoo, and was instrumental in originating the Central Midlands 5 Council of Governments Wetlands Mitigation Bank; and 6 7 Whereas, this energetic and talented leader also was more recently 8 instrumental in the development of the Columbia Convention 9 Center and facilitated the formation of the Midlands Rural 10 Transportation Authority; and 11 12 Whereas, at the time of his death he was chairman of the Central 13 Midlands Rural Transportation Authority and was a current board 14 member of the River Alliance, the Lexington Medical Center, and 15 the Wil Lou Gray Opportunity School; and 16 17 Whereas, Butch Spires received many awards and honors in his 18 public service career. He was the first recipient of the Central 19 Midlands Council of Governments Regional Leadership Award in 20 2005, was a recipient of Transportation Association of South 21 Carolina’s Outstanding Achievement Award in 2003, was named 22 South Carolina Ambassador for Economic Development by 23 Governor Carroll Campbell in 1994, was a recipient of the 24 President’s Cup from the Association of Counties for 25 Distinguished Service in 1986, and was a recipient of District Lay 26 Award from South Carolina Recreation and Parks Society in 1980; 27 and 28 29 Whereas, in his professional life he was the Southern Region 30 Corporate Development Director of Waste Management, Inc. and 31 in this capacity earned the respect and admiration of all those 32 involved in this very important field; and 33 34 Whereas, above all he was a devoted husband to his lovely wife 35 Gail since their marriage in August 1960, and they were blessed 36 with three wonderful children and have six grandchildren; and 37 38 Whereas, the members of the General Assembly, by this 39 resolution, would like to offer their heartfelt condolences to his 40 wife, children, grandchildren, and other members of his family 41 upon the loss of this truly gifted and outstanding man, and would 42 also like to recognize his many significant accomplishments during 43 a long and distinguished career of public service. Now, therefore,

1 [3769] 2 1 2 Be it resolved by the House of Representatives, the Senate 3 concurring: 4 5 That the members of the General Assembly express their deepest 6 sympathy to the family and many friends of Lowell C. “Butch” 7 Spires, Jr., of Lexington County upon his death and express the 8 gratitude of the citizens of Lexington County, the Midlands 9 Region, and the State of South Carolina for his many contributions 10 to his community, county, and State. 11 12 Be it further resolved that a copy of this resolution be forwarded to 13 his widow, Mrs. Gail Julian Spires. 14 ----XX---- 15

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