A senate RESOLUTION

 

TO EXPRESS PROFOUND SORROW UPON THE PASSING OF Charles "Marshall" Cain AND TO EXTEND THE DEEPEST SYMPATHY TO HIS FAMILY AND MANY FRIENDS.

 

Whereas, the members of the South Carolina Senate were deeply saddened to learn of the death of Charles "Marshall" Cain on January 13, 2025; and

 

Whereas, born in 1934 to parents Dr. C. Howard Cain and Helen Holley Cain, Mr. Cain attended Aiken Elementary and Aiken High School, where he served as president of the student body. He earned his undergraduate degree and his law degree from the University of South Carolina and the University of South Carolina School of Law, respectively; and

 

Whereas, after finishing law school in 1959, Mr. Cain served as legislative assistant to Senator Strom Thurmond in Washington, D.C., where he met his future wife, Anne, who was working in the same office. They were married in 1961 and celebrated their sixty-third wedding anniversary last year; and

 

Whereas, Mr. Cain returned to Aiken in 1961 to practice law with the firm of Lybrand, Simons, and Rich. He remained with the firm until 1981 when he was appointed Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington; and

 

Whereas, Mr. Cain was elected to the South Carolina House of Representatives in 1968 and was re-elected three times. For six years, Republicans in the House elected him as their Minority Leader. While serving in a leadership position in the Republican party in the House, he demonstrated an ability to work with Democrats to accomplish significant legislative progress; and

 

Whereas, Mr. Cain was the primary sponsor of legislation that created the Legislative Audit Council, an agency charged with investigating waste, fraud, and abuse in State agencies. He was the only Republican to serve on a six-member House-Senate Committee that visited alcohol and drug rehabilitation homes in the United States and then enacted a complete revision of the State's drug laws. He was the only Republican appointed to a ten-member House-Senate Committee that studied recommended revisions to the 1895 State Constitution and reported back to the two bodies; and

 

Whereas, Mr. Cain supported actions that created the Aiken County Council and authorized a new County Hospital. In 1974, Governor James B. Edwards asked him to serve as Executive Assistant to the first Republican governor since Reconstruction. He was appointed by Governor Edwards to be his liaison to the General Assembly, to be in charge of appointments to boards and commissions, to serve as liaison to law enforcement agencies, and to serve as Chairman of the Governor's Committee on Criminal Justice, Crime and Delinquency; and

 

Whereas, over the years, Mr. Cain received many honors and awards, including the Order of the Palmetto, the State's highest civilian award, which Governor Edwards awarded him in 1976, and being named Aiken's Outstanding Young Man of the Year in 1967; and

 

Whereas, Mr. Cain practiced law in Columbia with the law firm of Richardson, Plowden, Grier and Howser from 1984 until 1988. He was then appointed as Deputy General Counsel for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency where he was responsible for litigation, legislation, and oversight of Regional Attorneys at the EPA until his retirement in 1996; and

 

Whereas, a devout Christian, Mr. Cain was a loyal member of Aiken's First Baptist Church and served in many capacities, including as Chairman of the Deacons. A civic leader, he served in many community organizations, including as a past president of the Aiken Rotary Club; and

 

Whereas, Mr. Cain lived a life worth emulating, grounded in faith, commitment, integrity, and service to others; and

 

Whereas, Mr. Cain leaves to cherish his memory his wife, Anne; his daughter, Julie McGill and her husband, Tommy, and their children, Thomas (Kylie), Kennedy (Andrew) and their son Elliot, and Leandra; his son Marshall and his wife, Starr, and their children, Thomas, Katherine, and Sanders; his son David and his wife, Sarah, and children Madison, Hannah, and Titus; and his son Stuart and his wife, Ellen, and sons Caleb, Benjamin, and Gideon. He will be greatly missed.  Now, therefore,

 

Be it resolved by the Senate:

 

That the members of the South Carolina Senate, by this resolution, express profound sorrow upon the passing of Charles "Marshall" Cain and extend the deepest sympathy to his family and many friends.

 

Be it further resolved that a copy of this resolution be presented to the family of Charles "Marshall" Cain.

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