Limestone College Welcomes New Board Of Trustees Members

A total of six new members were recently named to the Limestone College Board of Trustees and will serve five-year terms, while another member joins to fill an unexpired term.

“We are pleased to welcome these valuable contributors to our Board of Trustees,” said Limestone President Dr. Walt Griffin. “We look forward to the benefit their expertise and insights will bring to the College. I am confident that they will be great resources for our Board and play an important role as we continue to transform Limestone to meet the needs of current and future students.”

(Please click on the attached photo to enlarge.)

The new trustees elected prior to the 2016-2017 academic year were:

Ashby L. Blakely, who resides in Gaffney, is a graduate of Lenoir-Rhyne and John A. Gupton College. He is the owner/operator of Blakely Funeral Home in Gaffney. He and his wife, Debbie, have three children. Blakely has previously served one term on the Limestone College Board of Trustees.

C. Samuel (Sam) Burns, who resides in Gaffney, is a graduate of The Citadel. He is the owner of Burns Chevrolet in Gaffney. He and his wife, Terri, have four children. Burns has previously served one term as a Limestone Trustee.

A. Wardlaw Hamrick, who resides in Gaffney, is a graduate of Presbyterian College and he is serving his first term as a Board of Trustees member. Hamrick is the President of Hamrick Mills Plant in Gaffney, and co-chairman of the Hamrick Mills Board of Directors. He is also the Director of The Fullerton Foundation. Hamrick and his wife, Gail, have three children. He is serving his first term as a Board of Trustees member. Hamrick’s father, Wylie, and brother, Lyman, have also served as Limestone Trustees.

Julie W. Lowry, who lives in Spartanburg, has previously served three terms on the Board of Trustees. She is a Limestone College graduate. Now retired, Lowry’s career included being a high school teacher and a college professor. She and her husband, William, have two children. Lowry received the Service to Community Award from the Limestone Alumni Association in 2002.

John P. Milko, who resides in Gaffney, is a graduate of St. Clair College, and earned his MBA from the University of Western Ontario. He is the Plant Manager at Timken Company in Gaffney. He and his wife, Caroline, have six children. Milko is serving his first term as a Limestone Trustee.

Charlie S. Patton, who resides in Gaffney, graduated from the University of South Carolina Upstate. He is the President of Buford Street Ace Hardware in Gaffney. He is also co-owner of Patton Investments and Gaffney Carpet Cleaning. Patton and his wife Michelle, have two children. He has previously served the Board of Trustees for one-year and five-year terms. Patton is a former Finance Committee Chairman for the Board.

Also, Karen Ballard Channell was elected to filling the unexpired term of John B. Eggers who passed away earlier this year. Channell graduated from Limestone College. She resides in Alexander City, Alabama. Channell and her husband, Tony, have three children. She is an insurance agent with State Farm. Channell has previously served one term on the Limestone Board of Trustees, and is a former member of the President’s Advisory Council. Her current term on the Board will end in 2019.

In addition to those recent appointments, Vera Jones Mitchell was named in November of 2014 to also fill an unexpired term. Mitchell graduated from Limestone College. A retired teacher, she lives in Greenville, SC. Mitchell and her husband, Sidney, have two children. Serving her first term as a Board of Trustees member, Mitchell is a former member of the Limestone College President’s Advisory Council.