Earl "Big Earl" R. DuPriest, Jr.

Earl Redelle DuPriest, Jr., passed away peacefully on January 30, 2012 at the Victory House in Walterboro, SC. He was born in Savannah, Georgia on May 2, 1918 to Earl Redelle DuPriest, Sr. and Pearl Crenshaw. He had one sister Jean and a half sister, JoAnn. He and his parents settled in Cayce around 1926 and his mother died shortly thereafter. Earl attended Porter Military Academy on a football scholarship for a period of time and then graduated from Brookland Cayce High School. He enlisted in the United States Navy in 1942 and was placed in the Seabees, the construction arm of the U. S. Navy. He served on the USS Kershaw, USS Enterprise, USS North Carolina, but spent most of his time on smaller invasion crafts. He served in the South Pacific and was honorably discharged on October 25, 1945. Earl married Katherine Elizabeth Sox (“Lib”), daughter of Vernon Lee Sox and Katherine Kinsler Kaigler Sox on August 17, 1940. They had three children, Earl Redelle DuPriest, III, (Linda), Mollie Katherine DuPriest Taylor (Henry), and Steven Craig DuPriest (Sissy). He is survived by his children, his grandchildren Earl Redelle DuPriest IV (Kelly), Jonathan Howle DuPriest, Elizabeth Dickerson Branham (Keith), Alicia Dickerson, and Peyton Craig DuPriest, and four step grandchildren, four great grandchildren and one step great grandchild. He is also survived by his half sister, JoAnn Blanchard. He predeceased by his parents and his sister, Jean DuPriest Yates. Earl founded Earl DuPriest Construction Company which he ran successfully until his beloved wife, Lib, died of cancer in 1963. He never quite got over that loss and it certainly changed the course of his life. Earl relocated shortly thereafter to the low country where he started a new company Tideland Utilities, Inc. in Summerville, South Carolina. Earl retired and his son, Steve, now runs that business. He has passed the legacy of both his father’s and his love for construction work on to both of his sons. He was an avid sport fisherman, inshore and offshore, winning the Triple Crown in 1988 and the first Governor’s Cup. He was a past president of Dorchester County Republican Party during the Reagan era. He was a charter member of the Lutheran Church of the Transfiguration in Cayce. He was a York Rite Mason for over sixty years and a member of the Omar Shrine.The family would like to give a special thanks to his caretakers, Mary and Joy Bethea for all their loving care. Funeral service will be held Thursday, February 2, 2012 at 2 o’clock at James A. Dyal Funeral Home Chapel, Summerville. Burial will be private. Family and friends may call at the funeral home from 6 until 8 o’clock Wednesday evening. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Windwood Home for Children, 4857 Windwood Farm Road, Awendaw,SC 29429 and Dickerson Center for Children, 1615 Augusta Street, West Columbia, SC 29169.

Earl "Big Earl" R. DuPriest, Jr.

May 2, 1918 - January 30, 2012