Obituary of Robert West

WEST COLUMBIA: Graveside service with Masonic Rites for Robert Keller West, 83, will be held at 2 p.m. Sunday, February 17, 2013, in Southland Memorial Gardens, officiated by Reverend LaVaughn Keisler and Reverend G. Reginald Cruse. The family will receive friends from 6 until 8 p.m. Saturday at Thompson Funeral Home of West Columbia. In lieu of flowers memorials may be made to Mount Tabor Lutheran Church, 1000 B Avenue, W. Columbia, SC 29169, Special Olympics SC, 810 Dutch Square Blvd., Ste. 204, Columbia, SC 29210 or Pets, Inc., P.O. Box 6394, West Columbia, SC 29171. Mr. West passed away Thursday, February 14, 2013. Graduating from Clemson College in 1951, Mr. West then served his country in the U.S. Army. He served in Korea from 1951 - 1953. He taught school in Green Sea, SC for 1 year. In 1954 and 1955, he returned to the University of South Carolina and received his Master's Degree in Education from USC. For 32 years he taught in Lexington District #2 at Brookland-Cayce Jr. High and Busbee Middle School, retiring in 1984. Mr. West was a member of S.C. Retired Teachers Association. He was a member of the Cayce-West Columbia Lions Club and Sinclair Masonic #154 Lodge for over 50 years. Mr. West was a member of Guignard Post of American Legion and a member of the New Brookland 104 Chapter of the Eastern Star. He was a member of Mount Tabor Lutheran Church and assistant treasurer for the Mount Tabor Sunday School Class. Survivors include his loving wife of 56 years, Janice Geiger West; two daughters and sons-in-law, Amanda West and Reverend G. Reginald Cruse of Lexington and Susan West and Bill Hunnicutt of Cayce; four grandchildren, Joshua Aaron and Paulene Cruse, Rebekah Caroline Cruse, Keller Reginald Cruse, and Rachel Lane Hunnicutt; a sister, Minnie Smith Monts; and his beloved cocker spaniel "Sam". The family would like to express special thanks to Dr. Bradley Word, Palmetto Baptist Nurses' Hospice, Agape Senior Staff and Hospice.