Plot 20, Grave D

Father: Rev. Dr. John Caswell Roper

Mother: Edith Bull Moseley Roper

Spouse: Clarence Augustus "Gus" Jeter Jr.¹

Dr. William Farr Gilliam Jr.

Childern: 

Clarence Augustus "Gus" Jeter III¹
Cheldon Moseley Jeter¹
Charles Roper Jeter¹

Mrs. Margaret Frances "Sis" Roper Jeter Gilliam, 91, died Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2003, at National Health Care-Greenville after several years of declining health.

She was born in Chester on Aug. 10, 1912, the daughter of the Rev. Dr. John Caswell Roper (1874-1958) and Edith Bull Moseley Roper (1875-1963). Dr. Roper was a Methodist minister and served churches throughout Upstate South Carolina during Mrs. Gilliam's childhood and youth.

Mrs. Gilliam graduated from Greenville High School and Converse College, where she majored in history and played field hockey. After college, she was a public school teacher until her marriage in 1939 to the late Clarence Augustus "Gus" Jeter Jr. (1902-1978). They lived in Carlisle throughout their marriage, where Mr. Jeter was a rural mail carrier and a farmer. Mrs. Gilliam returned to teaching in 1953 and taught in the public schools of Union County. She taught in the last one-room, one-teacher schoolhouse in South Carolina. When she retired, she was a third-grade teacher at Carlsan School in Carlisle.

In 1982, she married Dr. William Farr Gilliam Jr. (1913-1995), of Union. Dr. Gilliam was a retired research chemist from General Electric, having spent his career working in Schenectady, N.Y. They also lived in Carlisle during their marriage.

She was a longtime member of Carlisle United Methodist Church, where she served many years as Sunday school superintendent.

Survivors include a son, Clarence Augustus "Gus" Jeter III, of Prosperity and Carlisle; a son and daughter-in-law, Charles Roper and Helen Bohlen Jeter, of Greer; and a son and daughter-in-law, Sheldon Moseley and Jane Hicks Jeter, of Atlanta. She is also survived by grandchildren, Sheldon "Leigh" Jeter and husband, Daniel "Dan" Joseph Neppl, of Glenview, Ill., Elizabeth "Beth" Bohlen Hrubala and husband, Michael "Mike" Andrew Hrubala, of Spartanburg, Charles Roper Jeter Jr. and wife, Jennifer Marie Cox Jeter, of Huntersville, N.C., and Jefferson "Jeff" Moseley Jeter of Atlanta. Mrs. Gilliam also has six surviving great-grandchildren, Helen Elizabeth Neppl, Michael Andrew "Drew" Hrubala Jr., Courtney Elizabeth Hrubala, David Jeter Hrubala, Caroline Marie Jeter and Elizabeth Leigh "Ellie" Jeter. In addition to her parents and two husbands, Mrs. Gilliam was preceded in death by her six brothers, John "Jack" Caswell Roper Jr., Sheldon "Shelly" Moseley Rooper, Olin Watson Roper, Rufus Child Roper, Julian Westfield Roper and Charles Pinckney Roper.

Sis was a devoted daughter, sister, wife and mother, was a doting grandmother and was a proud great-grandmother. She was always a strong proponent of education, the succor of her parents in their old age, was a pillar of her church and was an enthusiastic supporter of her children and grandchildren in their every endeavor.

The family will receive friends and family at the S.R. Holcombe Funeral Home tonight, Oct. 23, 2003, from 6 to 8. Funeral services will be at Carlisle United Methodist Church, Highway 215, Carlisle, on Friday, Oct. 24, 2003, at 11 a.m., with burial services afterwards at Jeter Cemetery in Santuc.

Memorials may be made to Jeter Cemetery, c/o Mrs. William Jeter, 115 Park Drive, Union, SC 29379.

The S.R. Holcombe Funeral Home is serving the Jeter family.