Obituary of Sudie Lunsford Love

Sudie Lunsford Love of Cayce, SC died Friday afternoon at the age of 86, surrounded by loving family and friends, at Palmetto Health Baptist Hospital in Columbia, after a lengthy battle with pancreatic cancer. Mrs. Love was born on June 20, 1928 to the late Lillian Fair and James Gilbert Lunsford in Marion, SC. She had one sibling, Lillian Dorothy Young. In her youth, she attended Marion High School, where she participated on the volleyball, basketball and softball teams. Marion High School won the State basketball championship three times (1943-1945) while she was a member. In 1950, she earned a BS in Health & Physical Education from Limestone College, where she participated in all extracurricular sports because no varsity sports were offered. In 1951, Sudie married Prentiss "Pete" Johnson Love of McColl in Florence County, to whom she remained married until his death in 1975. Mrs. Love spent her entire teaching career of 31 years at Columbia High School, where she taught Health, Physical Education and Biology. She coached volleyball, basketball, track and field, gymnastics, bowling, tennis and archery. While at Columbia High, Sudie coached/won ten state championships, two state runners-up and numerous conference and regional championships. Sudie was recognized not only locally but nationally for her teaching and coaching prowess, having been inducted into the SC Amateur Softball Hall of Fame, SCACA Hall of Fame. She was also an inaugural inductee to the Limestone College Athletic Hall of Fame. In 1980, the Cayce Girls' Softball League established the Sudie Love Honor Award. She was involved in professional organizations including SCAHPERD, DGWS, Richland CO. Education Association and SCCAWS. Delta Kappa Gamma - Alpha Chapter also proudly included her as a member. She was one of the early leaders of the Title 9 sports movement in South Carolina. Sudie was a devoted churchgoer and member of the Friendship Sunday School Class at Cayce United Methodist Church. She also participated in numerous local and national mission trips as well as overseas mission trips to Haiti, Honduras, Nassau, Brazil and many trips to Mexico. She also volunteered her time with God's Helping Hands and Harvest Hope. Her retirement was a busy time of her life, Mrs. Love was a part of a quilting group with Cayce United Methodist Church and was an avid sewer, although she was a lifetime sewer. During retirement Love also had an antique business which took her on many scavenger hunts locally and beyond. She enjoyed the "hunt" as well as refinishing furniture to their original condition. Sudie was roundly recognized as the ultimate USC fan. Since 1985, she attended and kept a scorebook of many USC volleyball, girls' basketball, boys' basketball, softball and baseball games. She was also widely known as "the hat lady" in honor of the unique, handmade hats and visors she made for each USC sport she followed. Her presence will be missed, but her spirit will endure, around the USC athletic facilities. "It's a sad sad day in Gamecock country," Dawn Staley tweeted on Friday. "We lost one of the best coaches in Cola today. Coach Sudie Love, God called you to coach his angels." Sudie is survived by her two children, Lew Love and Lorraine Buckwell; three grandchildren, Amanda Love, Wayne Love and Thor Buckwell; and five great grandchildren, Isadora Fuller, Esme Fuller, Courtnee Love, Aidan Love and Riley Buckwell. A memorial service will be held 2 p.m. Tuesday, June 2, 2015 at Cayce United Methodist Church with a reception to follow in Chambers Hall, 1600 12th Street Cayce, SC 29033. Thompson Funeral Home of West Columbia is assisting the family. In lieu of gifts/flowers it is requested to donate to Cayce United Methodist Church Fund or Harvest Hope, P O Box 451 Columbia SC 29202 or Killingsworth House, 1831 Pendleton Street, Columbia SC 29201.