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TO EXPRESS THE PROFOUND SORROW OF THE MEMBERS OF THE SOUTH CAROLINA SENATE UPON THE PASSING OF THE HONORABLE MILDRED WEATHERS MCDUFFIE OF RICHLAND COUNTY, TO CELEBRATE HER LIFE, AND TO EXTEND THE DEEPEST SYMPATHY TO HER FAMILY AND MANY FRIENDS.
Whereas, the members of the South Carolina Senate were deeply saddened by the passing of the Honorable Mildred Weathers McDuffie, a longtime Richland One educator and retired magistrate court judge, on January 31, 2022, at the venerable age of eighty-seven; and
Whereas, Mildred Weathers was born in 1934 in Wedgefield to Charlie James and Ethel Mae Byrd Weathers. After her family moved to Columbia, she attended Celia Dial Saxon Elementary School. The young Mildred graduated from Booker T. Washington High School in 1953 and enrolled at Allen University, where she majored in business. After graduating in 1957, she took a clerical job with the Columbia Housing Authority but ultimately left that position around 1960 for a teaching practicum at C.A. Johnson High School; and
Whereas, Judge McDuffie began her thirty-four-year career in Richland One as an elementary school teacher. She later became the district's first ombudsman and assistant to the superintendent; and
Whereas, in 1994, Judge McDuffie ran first for city council and then county council, successfully winning a seat in the latter body. She retired from both Richland County Council and Richland One School District in 1998. After her retirement from Richland One, in 2001 she was appointed a summary court judge and served as a magistrate at the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center for many years; and
Whereas, in later retirement, Judge McDuffie returned to education, working as a relationship specialist at her alma mater, Allen University; and
Whereas, in recognition of her achievements and contributions to the district and the surrounding community, Judge McDuffie was inducted in 2020 into the Richland One Hall of Fame. In further recognition, in 2019 the City of Columbia renamed the 1000 block of King Street as Mildred W. McDuffie Way; and
Whereas, in losing Mildred Weathers McDuffie, Columbia has lost a giant. Her impactful presence will be greatly missed and remembered for generations to come. Now, therefore,
Be it resolved by the Senate:
That the members of the South Carolina Senate, by this resolution, express their profound sorrow upon the passing of the Honorable Mildred Weathers McDuffie of Richland County, celebrate her life, and extend the deepest sympathy to her family and many friends.
Be it further resolved that a copy of this resolution be presented to the family.
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