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May 15, 2007

The Presbyterian College community was stunned and left to mourn an incredible loss Monday after discovering the sudden passing of one of its most beloved characters.

The Rev. Tom Stallworth - a 1955 graduate of PC who gave the college nearly 40 years of devoted service as a religion professor, chaplain, dean of students, coach, and alumni director - died of an apparent heart attack early Monday morning. He was 74 years old.

"Tom Stallworth embodied the 'PC Spirit,'" said PC president Dr. John Griffith. "He lived it every day; he loved it every day; he never grew tired of promoting PC and engaging the PC family."

From the first time he ever set foot on campus, in fact, Stallworth was a true Blue Hose. Elected class president his freshman year, the Atlanta, Ga., native was active in the Student Government Association, led the Student Christian Association, was ROTC battalion commander, performed in the PC Choir, and was a member of Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity.

Also a graduate of Columbia Theological Seminary, Stallworth served as assistant pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Rome, Ga., for a year before being called by former college president Dr. Marshall Brown to take a teaching position at his alma mater.

Though the prospect of teaching was both exciting and challenging, Stallworth nonetheless dived in with characteristic zeal and sense of purpose. He also served the college as campus chaplain (his duties included responsibility for three required chapel services each week), as dean of students and as PC's second soccer coach. On three occasions - in 1963, 1973, and 1981 - PC students returned that affection by dedicating the college yearbook, the PaC SaC, to Stallworth.

In 1990, Stallworth became director (and later dean) of alumni affairs - a position well suited to his talent for meeting and communicating with people who love the college. According to Randy Randall, a 1975 graduate now serving as executive director of alumni and community relations, very few have matched Stallworth's relationship with his alma mater.

"I don't think that many people can think about PC and not think, 'Tom Stallworth,'" Randall said. "I've known Tom as a student, a colleague, a minister, and a friend. I am one of many who could say that Tom performed my wedding and Tom taught me religion. But I was also privileged to perform on stage in 'The Fantastiks' with him, to sing in the church choir with him, and to travel to so many places with him to visit people from PC - and always going on the back roads. When Tom and I showed up, there were not too many PC folks that we did not know.

"I talked with Tom almost every day. PC will miss a great person. I will miss my good friend."

Upon retiring in 1996, PC honored one of its favorite sons with an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree. He also earned his master's of theology degree in 1965 from Union Theological Seminary and the Presbyterian School of Christian Education in Richmond, Va. He directed the Summer Program for Young People in Montreat, N.C., and was a founding member of the Pastoral Care Committee of the S.C. Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse, and served on the alumni board of Columbia Seminary. He was co-founder of the PC ROTC Alumni Association and a member of the board of directors of the Clinton YMCA.

Stallworth also was a faithful servant to the Presbyterian Church USA. After retiring from PC, he served as parish associate at First Presbyterian in Clinton and served terms as moderator of Cherokee Presbytery and the Synod of the South Atlantic.

He is survived by his wife, Mary; their son and daughter-in-law, Andy and Becky Stallworth of Charleston; a daughter, Anne Stallworth Ballenger of Greenville; and four grandchildren - Max Avant and Catherine Brice Stallworth of Charleston and Mary Frances Hopkins Ballenger and Cooper Marie Ballenger of Greenville.

Memorial services was held at the First Presbyterian Church in Clinton. Memorials may be made to the Thomas A. Stallworth Scholarship Fund at Presbyterian College, 503 South Broad Street, Clinton, SC 29325 or to a charity of one’s choice.

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