GREENVILLE, S.C. (AP) - Approximately 300 family members, friends and public figures gathered at a memorial service for a longtime South Carolina lawmaker on Thursday, honoring him as a “true servant of the people.”
Retired state Sen. Ralph Anderson died at his Greenville home on Saturday at 92 years old, news outlets reported. The Democrat from the 7th District began his political career at 55, winning a seat on Greenville’s city council that he held for almost a decade before serving in the state House from 1991 to 1996 and moving on to the state Senate from 1996 until 2013, The Greenville News said.
Anderson’s longtime friend and colleague, Democratic Sen. Glenn Reese, spoke at the Celebration of Life ceremony at Springfield Baptist Church. He said Anderson cultivated his skills as a public servant through three decades of work as a postmaster, a role in which he learned to deal with and serve people, Reese said.
Others at the ceremony remembered Anderson as a faithful family man and leader who fought to improve life for his constituents.
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