Passing of Husband of Shelby Davis Sansbury

ROBERT RHETT SANSBURY, SR.

A man of honor and dignity who fought the good fight and kept the faith passed to the Church Triumphant Friday, July 31, 2015. He was born March 14, 1927, in Tans Bay, SC, a son of Frederick Haynesworth and Lenora McLaughlin Sansbury. He grew up working on the farm where he learned the value of endurance and the place for gratitude in all things. It was very hard work, but it shaped the man he would become. He learned that there is “more in the land than there is in a man.” Bob was possessed by a love for God’s creation all his life and especially the serenity of beauty he found in later years in the mountains at Lake Junaluska. God’s handiwork never escaped his sight. The lessons of home, family, and hard work taught him to see life as a blessing and to be a person who counted his blessings in all circumstances. He walked with God and God with him all his days. He was not one to give up when times were hard, but would smile a smile and press on. He declared every chance he got, “God’s been so good to me.”

He graduated Tans Bay High School and played for the Florence American Legion Team which won the State Championship in 1942 and 1943 and was later drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies. He attended Newberry College, and Graduated from Clemson University with a degree in Agricultural Engineering. He was also a graduate of the Louisiana State University School of Banking. He served honorably in the United States Army. His career in banking started with SCN in 1957, in Greenville. S.C. He served in Florence before moving to Myrtle Beach in 1962. Bob became the Senior Vice President and retired as the city and regional executive for Myrtle Beach and surrounding areas in 1985 from South Carolina National Bank. He was well-respected and appreciated by people with whom he dealt because Bob was an honest man who saw his task as that of helping people to the best of his ability. The best way to help people is to be honest with them. That is how Bob conducted business. Following his retirement he remained active in development for both the amusements and accommodations industry.

Throughout his life family was the most important. He never forgot from whence he came and honored his family and his heritage. He was predeceased by his parents, his first wife, Helen Graham Sansbury, and siblings Haynie Sansbury, Baron Sansbury, Hoyt Sansbury, Macie Childers, and Alma Anderson.

He is survived by his wife of forty-two years, Shelby D. Sansbury. A son, R. Rhett Sansbury and his wife, Peggy. A daughter, H. Gael Sansbury and her husband, Rick Davidson. Grandchildren, Robert R. Sansbury, III and his wife Dr. Jilian Rinehart Sansbury, Margaret Ann Sansbury Duncan and her husband Will, and Rebecca Reid Sansbury Reck and her husband Jonathan. Great-grandchildren, Gabriel Reck and Lillian Duncan. Bob believed that “home is where your heart is.” His heart invested itself in his family.

He was gifted with respect from the Myrtle Beach Community as he was involved in Civic, Recreational, and Faith-based activities: Bob was a past member of the MB Rotary Club; Paul Harris Fellow. He served as a Board Member and Chairmen of the original Ocean View Memorial Hospital and later served on the Board of the Grand Strand Regional Medical Health Center. Bob was a founding member of the Ocean View Memorial Foundation, was active with the Myrtle Beach Chamber of Commerce and was Past Director of the Coastal Carolina Educational Foundation. He was proud Member and Scholarship donor for IPTAY at Clemson University. Bob was honored as he was named Outstanding Young Man by Florence Jaycees in 1961 and received the Citizen of the Year of the Myrtle Beach Chamber of Commerce in 1971. He was an active golfer and member of Pine Lake International Golf Club and the Dunes and Beach Club and served as a board member and President of both clubs and was a member of the Sandbagger Golf Group. He was a longtime member of First United Methodist Church, teacher of the Men’s Bible Class; Past Chairman of the Administrative Board, Finance Committee, and Trustees of the Church. Also, he was a Certified Lay Speaker and a Delegate to the SC Annual Conference of the UMC for many years. He served on the SC Methodist Foundation Board; Board Member and Chair of Board of Trustees at Epworth Children’s Home. He had a place in his heart for children in need, particularly the feeding of homeless children and making sure that less fortunate children got a hand up. He saw himself as a blessed individual and being blessed means you help others. His faith led him to honor God in his heart and with his resources. He would say, “God’s been so good to me.”

Bob loved sports especially Clemson athletics. His blood ran orange. He loved Tiger Rag and to support his team with “Go Tigers!” When Clemson would win certain victories he would wear his orange blazer to church and just smile sitting in his seat on the second row. He loved to playfully give fans of the other school a hard time. When you teased him he would call you a “Smart Alec.” Health issues in recent years prevented him from getting to the football games, but his zeal for Clemson never waned. As Bob passes from this life to the Church Triumphant it seems that three things should be said that come from Bob’s heart.

First: “The time for my departure has come. I have run the race, finished the course, kept the faith.”

Second: Where the Blue Ridge yawns its greatness;
Where the Tigers play;
Here the sons of dear Old Clemson,
Reign supreme alway.

Dear Old Clemson, we will triumph
And with all our might
That the Tiger's roar may echo
O'er the mountain height.

Third: Amen.

The family will receive friends, Sunday August 2, 2015 from 5:00 – 7:00 PM at McMillan-Small Funeral Home. A Service of Remembrance and Celebration will be