Singleton and Related Genealogy Pages
A history of many families.
1923 - 2021 (98 years)| Name | Ruth Elizabeth GRIFFIN [2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9] | |
| Birth | 12 May 1923 | Pinewood, Sumter County, South Carolina  [10] |
| Gender | Female | |
| HIST | of Sumter, South Carolina 66 years: Sumter Gamecock Club honors longtime supporter Aycock Special To The Item / Bess Divindo Ruth Aycock speaks to the Sumter County Gamecock Club after being honored as the 2011 Sumter Fan of the Year at last week's banquet. Aycock, who was displaying the USC baseball letterman sweater of her late husband George Sr., has been a member of the Gamecock Club for 66 years. By DENNIS BRUNSON dennisb@theitem.com No doubt like many women over the years, Ruth Aycock began going to college football games because of her husband. "I didn't particularly like going to the games when we first started, but I saw how much my husband (George Sr.) enjoyed it," Aycock said. The games the Aycocks went to were those of the University of South Carolina, and she eventually got to the point where she enjoyed the football games- and the basketball games and the baseball games and probably some other sports as well. The Aycocks were avid supporters of USC and joined the Gamecock Club, the school's athletic support organization, in 1946. And Ruth has been a member of the club for the past 66 years. The 89-year-old Aycock was honored for her continuous dedication to the club last week during the Sumter County Gamecock Club Banquet. She received a plaque as she was named the Sumter County Gamecock Club 2011 Fan of the Year. "I was really surprised by it," Aycock said from her apartment at Covenant Place. "When they called me up to the podium, I didn't know what to think. I thought maybe it had something to do with me being the member the longest, but I won a prize for that a couple of years ago. "I was just overwhelmed," she said. "I was not expecting it. It was a very, very pleasant surprise." Ruth and George were high school sweethearts at Pinewood High. Upon graduation, George went to USC where he lettered in baseball in 1940 and '41. However, he left school to serve in World War II. Ruth married George in '42, and when he returned from the war, he earned his degree from Carolina -- and became an avid supporter of the athletic program. The Aycocks joined the Gamecock Club just six years after it came into existence. "George just loved going to the games," said Ruth, who had her late husband's letterman sweater, watch and chain on display at the banquet. And, as one might expect, Ruth began to enjoy her trips to Columbia for athletic events as well. "I remember the first time I got so excited at a game that I started jumping up and down," she said. "That made him (George, who passed away in 2001) really happy. I really started enjoying going to the games." And for those who think football games are often a fashion show for the women, Aycock said that isn't the case. She remembers the pageantry that surrounded the Big Thursday games, when USC and Clemson would play each other in Columbia the third Thursday in October until it was discontinued in 1959. "On Big Thursday, all the ladies would dress up and we would wear corsages, of course, in Carolina colors," Aycock said. And the Aycocks didn't just go to Columbia. They would travel to follow USC as well. One trip that sticks out in her mind came in '59 when they traveled by train to Miami to face the University of Miami while she was eight months pregnant with daughter Libby. "We had several couples from Pinewood sitting together at that game," she said. Aycock ended up becoming a graduate from USC as well, although it didn't come until 1961. She felt like it was her calling to become a teacher, and she earned her degree from Carolina, going on to teach at Thomas Sumter Academy in Dalzell and Manchester School in Pinewood. While she seldom goes to USC athletic events anymore, that doesn't mean her support of the programs has waned. "All those Ray Tanner baseball games (in the College World Series) that went on after midnight, I stayed up and watched them," Ruth said. "And I watch the football when it's on TV; when they're on TV, I pay for the pay-per-view." Posted in Local sports, Sports on Thursday, July 19, 2012 RUTH ELIZABETH GRIFFIN AYCOCK Posted Thursday, November 11, 2021 6:00 am Funeral services for Ruth Elizabeth Griffin Aycock, 98, will be held at 11 a.m. on Friday at Aldersgate United Methodist Church with the Rev. Laura Whitt officiating. Burial will follow at Pinewood Cemetery, Pinewood. The family will receive friends from 10 to 11 a.m. on Friday at Aldersgate United Methodist Church and other times at the home of her daughter, 497 Chippewa Circle. Mrs. Aycock was the widow of George Calhoun "Sonny" Aycock Sr. She passed away peacefully on Tuesday, Nov. 9, 2021, surrounded by her loving family. Born on May 12, 1923, in Pinewood, she was a daughter of the late George Lawrence Griffin and Naomi Geddings Griffin. She was proud to be a member of the "Greatest Generation." She was born in the "Roaring 20s" and became a teenager during the Great Depression. She graduated from Pinewood High School, attended Winthrop College and received her degree from the University of South Carolina in elementary education. She taught at various public and private schools in Sumter County. Devotionals were the way she started her day at school and prayed that she would have an impact on the children's lives. She was a former member of Pinewood United Methodist Church, where she was a Sunday school teacher, pianist, organist and president of the Lizzie Griffin Afternoon Circle. Upon moving to Sumter, she became a member of Aldersgate United Methodist Church, where she was a member of the Wesley Fellowship Class. She was a charter member of the Pinewood American Legion Auxiliary for 56 years as well as a member of Delta Kappa Gamma for more than 30 years. For many years, she volunteered at various nursing homes entertaining the residents with her piano music. Her favorite hobbies included playing bridge and going to Carolina football games with her family and friends. She was a member of the Gamecock Club for 75 years. On Sept. 15, 2012, she was awarded "Legendary Fan of the Game," where she was recognized on the field and received a custom blazer and plaque. She married her high school sweetheart, Sonny Aycock, during World War II, where she learned to value family, friends and faith. Surviving are one son, George Calhoun Aycock Jr.; two daughters, Laura Aycock Morris (Steve) and Libby Aycock; six grandchildren, Anna Jones (Walker), Stephanie Covington (Matt), Wayne Morris (Ashley), Pam Miles (Randy), Trey Aycock (Danielle) and Ashley Stockton (Casey); 14 great-grandchildren; and numerous nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her husband, grandson, great-grandson, three brothers and two sisters. Pallbearers will be Walker Jones, Matt Covington, Wayne Morris, Trey Aycock, Walker Jones III, Miller Jones, Matthew Covington and John Byrne. Honorary pallbearers will be nephews of Mrs. Aycock. Memorials may be made to the Pinewood United Methodist Church, P.O. Box 203, Pinewood, SC 29125; to Aldersgate United Methodist Church, 211 Alice Drive, Sumter, SC 29150; or to Covenant Place, 2825 Carter Road, Sumter, SC 29150. The family is grateful to the staffs of Covenant Place, MSA Home Health & Hospice, and Carolina Caregivers as well as Ann Dinkins and Mary McCray for the care and compassion they provided. Online condolences may be made at www.sumterfunerals.com . Elmore Hill McCreight Funeral Home & Crematory, 221 Broad St., Sumter, is in charge of the arrangements, (803) 775-9386. [3, 4, 6, 7, 9] | |
| _UID | 4B659F53B783476584FFEB6A071F1555F0B1 | |
| Death | 9 Nov 2021 | |
| Burial | 12 Nov 2021 | Pinewood Cemetery, Pinewood, Sumter County, South Carolina [9] |
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| Person ID | I80558 | Singleton and Related Families |
| Last Modified | 12 Dec 2024 | |
| Father | George or Charles Lawrence GRIFFIN, Jr., b. 13 Jan 1896 d. 1974 (Age 77 years) | |
| Mother | Naomi “Nonie” GEDDINGS, b. 28 Dec 1894, Paxville, Clarendon County, South Carolina d. Bef 6 Oct 2013 (Age < 118 years) | |
| Marriage | 6 Jul 1915 [10] | |
| _UID | 9FF242FA1BE9428B8FD252336C513265D8B7 | |
| _UID | 9FF242FA1BE9428B8FD252336C513265D8B7 | |
| Family ID | F55825 | Group Sheet | Family Chart |
| Family | George Calhoun “Sonny” AYCOCK, Sr. d. Bef 6 Apr 2005 | |||||||||
| Marriage | 16 May 1942 | Charleston, South Carolina [9, 10] |
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| _UID | 5E497A7F746C44FDAE8F382C05B7F7879C1A | |||||||||
| _UID | 5E497A7F746C44FDAE8F382C05B7F7879C1A | |||||||||
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| Family ID | F55999 | Group Sheet | Family Chart | ||||||||
| Last Modified | 12 Dec 2024 | |||||||||
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