John Philip “Phil” BOOTH, III

1922 - 2021  (98 years)

• Name	John Philip “Phil” BOOTH  [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9]
  Suffix	III
  Birth	6 Jun 1922	Sumter, Sumter County, South Carolina   [10]
  Gender	Male
  HIST	of Sumter, South Carolina Date Published: March 29, 2009 Booth elected mayor; LeNoir named Mother of the Year MAY Photo provided Phil Booth III, then 11, was declared the winner in the YMCA-sponsored Good Citizenship contest and served as mayor of Sumter during Boys’ Week, May 14-20, 1934. By HUBERT OSTEEN Item Editor Hubert@theitem.com 75 YEARS AGO – 1934 Week of May 9-16 Eleven-year-old Phil Booth III was declared the winner in the YMCA-sponsored Good Citizenship contest and will serve as mayor of Sumter during Boys’ Week, May 14-20. The contest began on Oct. 1, 1933, and closed on May 1. A total of 125 boys competed, with 29 of them winning top honors; they will hold positions in city government during Boys’ Week. A point system was used to score the contestants, with each boy required to turn in a monthly scorecard signed by his parents, church teacher and YMCA secretary Austin M. Francis. The boys were graded on their intellectual, religious, physical and social activities. Booth won in a close race with Joe Dean, who finished second, and Alwin Burns, who came in third. Dean and Burns will serve as city councilmen. The three winners will also receive a trip to Washington, D.C., in June. Each received gold, silver and bronze medals in the order of their standing. The first 10 finishers will be given a trip to the seashore while all of the top 29 were awarded red and white YMCA caps and felt YMCA emblems for their sweaters or gym shirts. The winners were as follows: mayor, Phil Booth III; city council, Joe Dean and Alwin Burns; city manager, Earle Beatson; city clerk, Bob Haynsworth; chief of police, Fenwick Murray; fire department chief, Edgar Klarpp; assistant fire department chief, Randolph Bradham; manager Rex Theatre, John Johnson; health officer, Edmund Tisdale; YMCA gym director, Harry Bryan; city attorney, John D. Lee; recorder, Riley Bradham; superintendent of streets, Billy Bradham; fireman, Mac Moise; food inspector, Barnwell Sanders; tax collector,Tom Hutchins; manager of water department, Billy Randall; fireman no. 2, Kirk McLeod; tax collector, Francis Bradley; policemen, Lee Rogers and James Brogdon; firemen, Ewing Gibson and Billy Reynolds; chairman of board of health, Billy Rogers; YMCA pool director, Cordes Palmer; policemen, Harold Dean and Charles Shaw; member board of education, Stanyarne Stoudenmire. Mayor Booth entertained all of his staff with a dinner at his home, during which he treated the city officials with several large pieces of chicken and heaping amounts of ice cream. The mayor presented each boy a handsome ribbon inscribed with the title of his new position. Booth also presided at a busy meeting of city council during which a motion was made that all cows be put out of the city, and in spite of a protest from the mayor, the motion was passed. In other action: a petition signed by a number of citizens asked that a fine of $100 be imposed on anyone serving greens or spinach to the boys, which was quickly approved along with a request that all boys be allowed to go to bed at night without washing their feet and that they not be required to wash behind their ears, and all tests and exams at school be eliminated and free candy stores be placed on every block. These proposals were put into effect at once. Another petition for playgrounds and skating rinks was turned over to City Manager Earle Beatson for further study. Gym Director Harry Bryan wanted action on erecting a community gym, and council approved $10,000 for the project. Mayor Booth remarked before adjournment that he thought the new council had made good progress and that they were going to “wake up some of Sumter’s tightwad taxpayers before they were through,” according to the story. No sooner had council adjourned than Chief of Police Fenwick Murray served a warrant and arrested Mayor Booth, charging him with keeping cows inside the city limits. Court was quickly convened by City Recorder Riley Bradham, attracting a large crowd, with City Attorney John D. Lee III serving as prosecuting attorney; Booth was represented by attorney Cornelius Wise. Several witnesses were called, and during the proceedings the recorder had to call for order several times as spectators interrupted with loud laughter. The case was sent to a jury composed of Foreman Cliff Brown, Ed Cuttino, Charles Rowland, Raymon Schwartz, William Belser and Dick Burns. The jury returned a guilty verdict and the mayor was sentenced to pay a fine of $25 or get up at 5:30 a.m. for 30 days and milk the cows. The week-long Boys’ Week celebration concluded with a “Father and Son Day” with swimming and a picnic at Pocalla Springs on Friday and swimming and a picnic for the young city officials at Ellerbe’s Mill on Saturday hosted by YMCA secretary Austin M. Francis. The Item ran stories throughout the week reporting on the events and ceremonies. That same week Sumter paid tribute to the bicentennial of Gen. Thomas Sumter’s birth with a parade that began at the Central School grounds joined in by all the children of the local schools led by marshals on horseback followed by “Miss Sumter,” Shirley Rider, selected by the senior class of the Girls’ High School, and Clayton Lowder, picked by the senior class of the Boys’ High School to take the part of “General Sumter.” Miss Rider presented the keys to the city to “General Sumter” and crowned him with a laurel wreath on the athletic field of the Boys’ High School at the conclusion of the parade, which included floats. Other news: Irving A. Ryttenberg announced his retirement from active management of Sumter Brick Works, which he has directed for over 25 years. He will be succeeded by his son, Harry Ryttenberg, and son-in-law W.L. Hirshberg, both of whom have been associated with the business for several years. Mr. Ryttenberg plans a long vacation in Atlantic City, N.J., which his physician encouraged him to take so his health, “which has not been robust recently, will be restored,” according to the story. The clubhouse and caretaker’s cottage at Cain’s Mill were destroyed in a fire of unknown origin on Sunday, May 13. The fire at the Cain’s Mill Club was discovered by the caretaker in the kitchen of the club at 10 p.m., and it consumed the buildings before help could arrive. Both buildings were partially insured. The club expects to rebuild “at once,” according to the story. Congressman H.P. Fulmer announced that he was recommending J.C. Pate for appointment as Sumter postmaster. Memorial Day was observed on Thursday, May 11, at Sumter Cemetery and featured an address by J. Rion McKissick, dean of the School of Journalism at the University of South Carolina, in which he lauded the heroism of Confederate soldiers and the women who kept the home fires burning while the conflict raged. The exercises were sponsored by the United Daughters of the Confederacy and presided over by E.W. Dabbs, commander of the Sumter Post of the American Legion. Advertisements during the week: The Sumter Dry Goods at 1 S. Main promoted a sale of swimsuits with the heading, “The water is warm – jump in! But before you jump in, stop by The Sumter Dry Goods Co. and get fitted to one of these sporty swimsuits while the showing is complete.” Misses all wool suits were selling for $1.39 and up, juveniles all wool for 75 cents, and ladies all wool, $1.39 and up. Osceola Fish Market opposite the Claremont Hotel on South Main Street advertised a special on fillet of boneless bass for 15 cents a pound, plus a variety of other fish, such as king mackerel steaks, speckled trout, croakers and mullet. Collins Department Store at 3 S. Main St. was holding a “Cotton is king” sale to celebrate National Cotton Week, May 14-19, with Turkish towels going for 10 cents each, Pepperell bed sheets for 94 cents, pillowcases for 21 cents each and cotton wash suits for $4.98, pre-shrunk. Playing at the Rex Theatre: Ramon Novarro and Jeanette MacDonald were starring in “The Cat and the Fiddle,” followed by Robert Montgomery in “Mystery of Dr. X,” “The Mad Game,” starring Spencer Tracy with Claire Trevor, Paul Muni in “Hi Nellie” with Glenda Farrell, and Joe E. Brown in “A Very Honorable Guy.” For the Saturday shoot ‘em up, it was Ken Maynard starring in “Strawberry Roan,” plus another chapter in the Buck Jones serial, “Gordon of Ghost City,” and a Mickey Mouse cartoon. 50 YEARS AGO Week of May 3-10 A crew member aboard a Shaw Air Force Base RB-66 reconnaissance jet died when the aircraft crashed on Friday, May 8, in a field on the Spann farm just north of the Atlantic Coast Line railroad near Shaw’s Crossroads, about five miles east of Sumter. He was identified as Capt. Julian T. Stewart, 32, who is survived by his wife and two children. The crash occurred while the plane was flying in formation with two other RB-66’s, clipped one of the other aircraft and went out of control. The other plane sustained minor damage and landed safely at Shaw. The pilot, Capt. R.E. Woodworth and other crew member, Capt. J. F. Young, safely parachuted; Stewart’s parachute apparently did not open and his body was found under the parachute near the wreckage of the plane. Item reporter John Mitchell was on the scene shortly after the crash and interviewed eyewitness John M. Copeland, who lived nearby on the Brewington Road. Copeland said he saw a small fire on the plane while it was in the air and heard two small explosions as the survivors parachuted. These may have been cartridges which eject the seats from the aircraft, officials said. “There was a big explosion and the plane caught on fire when it crashed,” Copeland said. A board of officers is investigating the crash. The Sumter County supply bill (budget) for 1959-60 showed an increase of $50,000 that will bring its expenditures to $642,339. The bill was approved by the county legislative delegation and the County Board of Commissioners. Among the expenditures were proposed salaries for county officers that included a raise of $1,100 for Sheriff Byrd Parnell, bringing his salary up to $7,500, and additional raises for other county officials such as the clerk of court, county judge, tax collector, county engineer and assistant county engineer whose salaries range from $3,850 to $8,500 for the county judge, who is the highest-paid county employee. Sumter officials announced the county’s newest industry, Sumter Stress-Crete Inc., which will produce pre-stressed concrete building materials at their plant on Dingle Street. The company will employ 15 to 20 workers. Its officers are Robert A. Burgess, president, J. Clint Brogdon Jr., vice president, and William R. Britton, general manager. Richmond, Va., attorney, Lewis Pendleton, in a speech before the Sumter Citizens Council at the Edmunds High School auditorium, declared, “There is no answer (to the integration threat) short of outright resistance.” He added that he did not advocate violence or force of arms. He urged his audience to “Keep your public schools open and insist on operating them the way you want to. If you don’t have people who will stand fast, you may have to get out (of public schools), but as long as your officials hold the line, you can keep public schools open and segregated.” He was introduced to the audience of over 500 by former Sumter Mayor F.B. Creech. Chairman of the local council is J.D. Dinkins. Mrs. S.G. LeNoir of Hagood was named Mother of the Year for Sumter County by sponsor radio station WSSC. The mother of seven children, one deceased, Mrs. LeNoir was selected by judges on the basis of her home life and community activities. She is postmaster at Hagood and bookkeeper and clerk in her husband’s general store in Horatio. Other news: Woody Baird and Julie Kirven were crowned as king and queen of the May Court held at Edmunds High School auditorium to celebrate May Day. Both are Edmunds seniors. Edmunds High School senior Mike Towery was elected mayor by his fellow students to serve during “Youth Government Day” in the city. Also elected were David Alcott, Carol Phillips, Sandra Harris and Kay McCoy to serve as City Council members. The mayor and City Council were sworn into office on Wednesday, May 6, by Roland Windham, assistant city manager. The annual Youth Government Day is sponsored by BPO Elks Lodge No. 55, whose chairman of Elks Youth Activities Committee is T.H. Davis Jr. Judy Austin of Sumter, Miss Southern 500, was photographed by Heyward Crowson helping Fireball Roberts display his trophy for winning the Rebel 300 at Darlington Raceway. Sumterite Donald B. Sanders was one of five students at the University of the South, Sewanee, Tenn., elected to Phi Beta Kappa, the highest collegiate recognition for scholarship. He is a senior majoring in mathematics at the school. Over 4,000 spectators turned out for the Sumter Chamber of Commerce Boat-A-Rama water show at McLeod’s Landing on Lake Marion. Sumter’s first foreign exchange student will be 17-year-old Kristina Venho of Finland, who will attend Edmunds High School as a student beginning in the fall. Her travel expenses were provided by the Sumter Rotary Club with additional contributions from the Sumter Elks Club for other expenses. She will reside in the home of Mr. and Mrs. Stanley Brading during her stay in Sumter. Sports news: The Sumter High baseball team split two games with Columbia High, winning at home 4-1 and losing in Columbia, 13-4. Woody Baird celebrated his coronation as May King at Edmunds High with a three-run homer in the losing cause. Ken Rosefield of Sumter continued to be one of the Atlantic Coast Conference leaders in hitting for the University of South Carolina with a .354 average, which places him at fourth in the conference. Leading the ACC is Wake Forest centerfielder Jay Franklin with a .469 average. Jimmy Allsbrooks won the main event at Gamecock Raceway, driving Bobby Lee’s old No. 21 which was painted white and re-numbered No. 18. Lee was competing in the Rebel 300 in Darlington. Other top five finishers were H.C. Pritchard, Maxie Hicks, Crawfish Crider and Frank Graham. Advertisements during the week: The Capitol Department Store on South Main Street was offering an “Exceptional Purchase!” of men’s wash-n-wear cotton cord suits, 30 percent Dacron, 70 percent cotton, for $19.90. Kester’s Bamboo House restaurant at 209 N. Main St. announced it was now open daily and Sunday serving “delicious American and Chinese dishes,” specializing in take-out orders. Business lunches were being served daily, 85 cents and up. Jim’s Restaurant on South Main Street opposite the post office was offering an “especially prepared” dinner for Mother’s Day consisting of a U.S. Choice baby filet mignon with salad, two vegetables, drink and dessert for $2.50. Special Sunday dinners were still going for $1 with a choice of turkey, fried shrimp or baked spring chicken along with salad, two vegetables, drink and dessert. The local banks announced they would closed on Monday, May 11, in observance of Confederate Memorial Day, which falls on Sunday, May 10. At the downtown theaters: The Sumter Theatre held over “The Shaggy Dog” starring Fred MacMurray. Appearing in the ad was a photo showing parents and children lined up in front of the theater to see the popular movie. Admission was 65 cents for adults at the matinee, 75 cents for the evening show; children could get in for 25 cents. Upcoming on Sunday was “Imitation of Life” starring Lana Turner and John Gavin, co-starring Sandra Dee, Dan O’Herlihy, Susan Kohner and Robert Alda, with Juanita Moore and Mahalia Jackson. “Some Like It Hot” was playing at the Carolina, starring Marilyn Monroe (“and her bosom companions”), Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon, co-starring George Raft, Pat O’Brien and Joe E. Brown. Contact Editor Hubert Osteen at Hubert@theitem.com or (803)774-1298. Great-grandfather skydives for his 90th birthday Photo Provided Great-grandfather skydives for his 90th birthday Shannon Lacavara, left, and John Phillip Booth III fill out paperwork before skydiving last month. It was Booth's second time doing a tandem jump and his granddaughter's first. BY JADE ANDERSON janderson@theitem.com "If you live young, you'll stay young." - Norman D. Vaughan   John Phillip Booth III has been active all his life. He's traveled to every continent, skied in most of the countries in Europe and bungee jumped. "I'm always reaching out to do something," Booth said. "There is no telling where the next urge or desire will take me, and I'll probably do it." So it's really not surprising that to celebrate his 90th birthday, the great-grandfather of three went skydiving. "You're falling at 120 miles an hour and looking around," Booth said. "You have goggles on and a helmet, and you're looking at the ground coming closer. But you don't feel like you are falling. It feels like you're not moving. I love it." It's actually the second time he's been on a tandem jump. He did it for his 80th, too. "The first one was just as great as the second one," Booth said. The Sumter native earned his pilot's license at 15 and took his first solo flight at 16. His license remains active. He joined the Army Air Corps in 1942 and later retired as a first lieutenant from the Air Force, but he remained in the active military reserve at Shaw Air Force Base for a number of years. "I'd never jumped out of a plane in the service, and I always wanted to," Booth said. So for his 80th birthday, his family came together to treat him to a tandem jump in Walterboro with a photographer. His daughter, Mary Gardner, and his grandson-in-law, Capt. Stephen Lacavara of the U.S. Marine Corps jumped with him. The first one was a 10,000-foot jump, while the second was from 13,500 feet, which took place over the Orange, Va., airport "So the free fall was not as long on the first one," Booth said. "With 13,500 feet, you get one full minute of free fall." The second jump 10 years later, Lacavara joined Booth again and brought along his wife, Shannon Lacavara, Booth's granddaughter. "The weather was perfect," he said. "Stephen jumped, then Shannon. I was the last one out." This time he had a videographer with him. "I've got two quotes I like from a friend of mine," Booth said. "'If you live young, you'll stay young,' and 'Live to be 100 because not too many people die after that.'" His friend is fellow adventurer Norman D. Vaughan, whose words of wisdom are quoted at the beginning of this story. Booth said he plans to continue to travel and hopes to skydive again. Some have guessed it will be for his 95th or 100th birthday. "I might do it before then," he said. "I don't want to miss another opportunity." Reach Jade Anderson at (803) 774-1250. Posted in Local news, News on Sunday, July 1, 2012 JOHN PHILIP BOOTH III Posted Tuesday, June 8, 2021 6:00 am After a life well lived, John Philip Booth III passed on Saturday, June 5, 2021, one day before his 99th birthday. Born in 1922, in Sumter, a son of the late John Philip Booth Jr. and Hascal F. Parrott Booth, Mr. Booth was a graduate of Edmunds High School. He graduated from Parks College of Aeronautical Technology with continuing education at Western Kentucky University, Mississippi State University and the University of South Carolina. He furthered his military education with studies at the Industrial College of the Armed Forces, the Command and Staff College Air University, the National War College and the USAF Intelligence School. Mr. Booth served in the U.S. Army Air Corps and the USAF active reserve from 1943 to 1972, retiring as a USAF lieutenant colonel. In Sumter, Mr. Booth was president of Booth-Boyle Livestock Co. and Booth Agri-Builders Inc. Extensively traveled with adventures on all seven continents, including Antarctica, Mr. Booth was also an active enthusiast of outdoor recreation, preferring a sleeping bag and tent to other forms of shelter. Surviving are his three children; two sons, John Philip Booth IV of Oregon and David Edwin Booth of Sumter; and his daughter, Mary Booth of Summerville. Mr. Booth was preceded in death by his parents and all three of his siblings, Lauren P. Booth, Hassie B. Nelson and Bettie Ann Klapthor. The Booth family wishes to thank the many friends of their father who loved and supported him in his lifetime and requests that memorials be directed to the Endowment Fund of the Sumter YMCA, where Mr. Booth thrived throughout his life. 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.  [1, 5, 6, 9]
  MILI	He joined the Army Air Corps in 1942 and later retired as a first lieutenant (correction on 3 Jul says that he was a lieutenant colonel at retirement) from the Air Force, but he remained in the active military reserve at Shaw Air Force Base for a number of years. He furthered his military education with studies at the Industrial College of the Armed Forces, the Command and Staff College Air University, the National War College and the USAF Intelligence School. He served in the U.S. Army Air Corps and the USAF active reserve from 1943 to 1972, retiring as a USAF lieutenant colonel.  [6, 9]
  _UID	77285BBBB9644AA28666468BAEE64F6DCB99
  Death	5 Jun 2021
  Person ID	I140210	Singleton and Related Families
  Last Modified	9 Jun 2021

  
  

  Father	John Philip BOOTH, Jr.,   b. 10 Jul 1896   d. 11 Sep 1972, at the Texass Heart Institute in Houston, Texas, after a brief illness (Age 76 years)
  Mother	Hasca Fracena “Hassie” PARROTT,   b. 27 Jun 1897, Sumter, Sumter County, South Carolina d. 18 May 1981, Tuomey Hospital, Sumter, Sumter County, South Carolina (Age 83 years)
  Marriage	17 Jun 1919	Sumter County, South Carolina   [11]
  _UID	8A72871CD7614318A9F5EAAA64B351FCC8E1
  _UID	8A72871CD7614318A9F5EAAA64B351FCC8E1
  Family ID	F96251	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Living
  Children	1. Mary BOOTH   2. Living   3. John Philip BOOTH, IV
  Family ID	F96252	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	9 Jun 2021

  
  

• Sources

  [S4205] H. Carlisle Booth. [S4394] Lauren Booth. [S3201] . [S11403] William H. Nelson. [S11975] Booth elected mayor; LeNoir named Mother of the Year. [S18214] Great-grandfather skydives for his 90th birthday. [S22822] Interview with David Booth. [S28698] Bettie Ann Booth Klapthor. [S28931] John Philip Booth III. [S5798] . [S689] Sumter County, South Carolina, Marriage License Index, #1, page 197.