Samuel Rowland McLaughlin, Sr., 54, of Florence, S.C., passed away Tuesday, September 23, 2003, in a Florence hospital after an illness.
McLaughlin was born in Florence, S.C., and was the son of the late I.J.L. “Buddy McLaughlin, Jr. and the late Thelma Ethel Rowland McLaughlin. He was a graduate of Presbyterian College where he lettered in football for four years. He was a member of Pi Kappa Phi Fraternity. He was a past member of the Sertoma Club, a founding member of the Pee Dee Horsemens Association, a member and past board member of the Tennessee Walking Horse Breeders and Exhibitors Association, president of the South Carolina Walking Horse Association and president of the South Carolina Horse Show Association. He was a trustee and elder of Effingham Presbyterian Church and had served as a member of the Session and as a Deacon. He was founder of Manos Extendidas (Hands Reaching Out) and served as a missionary for them to Honduras. He was a former member of the Florence County Planning commission.
McLaughlin was the owner and broker-in-charge of the McLaughlin Co. and was owner and operator of Wildwood Farms.
He is survived by his wife, Donna Anderson McLaughlin of Florence, S.C.; two daughters, Stephanie McLaughlin Rawlinson and her husband, Kevin Davis Rawlinson, and Celia Abigail McLaughlin and her fiance, William Brian Urquhart all of Florence; one son, Samuel Rowland McLaughlin, Jr. and his friend, Jennifer Michelle Vining of Florence; one granddaughter, Mary Catherine Rawlinson of Florence; and one brother, I.J. “Larry” McLaughlin III of Effingham, S.C.
Memorial may be made to the Effingham Presbyterian Church Rowland McLaughlin Memorial Fund, 526 Effingham Highway, Effingham, SC 29541.
Funeral services will be held at 2:00 p.m. Saturday, September 29, 2003, at the Effingham Presbyterian Church. A burial will follow in the McLaughlin Cemetery directed by Stoudenmire-Dowling Funeral Home located at 2402 S. Irby Street in Florence, SC. The family will receive friends from 6-8 p.m. Friday at the funeral home.