Felix Joseph Nepveux III D.M.D.

Felix Joseph Nepveux, III was born in Charleston on February 24, 1921, the son of Felix J. Nepveux, Jr. and Maisie Rhame Nepveux.  He graduated from the High School of Charleston and The College of Charleston.  On June 26, 1943, he was married to Ethel Trenholm Seabrook of Johns Island.

In 1946, he received a D.M.D. from the University of Louisville and went on active duty in the United States Navy.  He received orders to the Green Cove Springs Naval Hospital.  His son, Felix IV, was born in the Jacksonville Naval Hospital in 1947.

Trouble was brewing in the Far East and on Sept. 25, 1948, Felix received orders to report to Guam and the first Provisional Marine Brigade, Fleet Marine Force, for duty.  From there he went to Tsingtoa, China on the attack troop carrier, USS Bayfield.  In March he received a promotion to Battalion Dental officer and moved to USS Chilton which was sent to Shanghai to help with the evacuation of U.S. Marines and all American citizens who wanted to leave China.  Felix was the only U.S. Navy dental officer on the China coast.

Unexpectedly, Chinese communists shelled British warships, Amethyst, Consort and London.  Felix gave first aid to men from the Amethyst, went on board Consort and London and gave first aid to wounded men, including Admiral Madden, the top British admiral in the China Theater.

The Chilton left in a hurry and took the Marines to Camp Pendleton, California, where Dr. Nepveux was attached to the 5^th Marines, 1^st Marine Division.  Daughter Susan was born in the hospital at Camp Pendleton in 1950.

The next month the 5^th Marines left for Korea where they captured the port of Inchon then went back on board ships and marched to the Chosin reservoir where Chinese communists joined the war.  Winter conditions in North Korea exceeded anything the United States forces had ever encountered in wartime.  The US President presented the Presidential Unit Citation to the first Marine Division and Dr. Nepveux was authorized to wear the insignia.  He gave anesthesia for battle field operations.

Since Lt. Felix Nepveux had been on sea duty for a long time he left his unit and received orders to go to the Naval Air station in Jacksonville, Florida, served on the U.S.S. Tripoli, resigned from the service and established a dental practice in Charleston, SC.

In Charleston Felix took handicapped children to hospitals for full mouth restorations, the only service of this kind in the county.  He was used by doctors to make dentures for people who had had operations for cancer of the mouth.  He was president of the Charleston Dental Association in 1956.

Felix grew up as a member of the First Baptist Church in Charleston where his mother was the church organist.  After his return to Charleston he was a member of Baptist and Presbyterian churches.  His wife had grown up in the Johns Island Presbyterian Church.

In China he had been close friends with Baptists missionaries who visited him later in Charleston.

He served many terms as Deacon and Elder in various churches in Charleston.  At the Second Church he taught Sunday school and played the piano for the children's groups.  At the Johns Island Presbyterian Church he sang in the choir for 20 years.  In the summers he conducted Sunday school classes at the family vacation home on Goat Island where people had to come by boat.

Felix played the piano and led sing-a-long programs at many nursing homes.  He was written up in newspapers and on television.  On February 18, 1999, he received the Volunteer of the Year award from the South Carolina Professional Association.  In July 2000, he received the Ann D. Edwards Volunteer of the Year Award for the Medical University of South Carolina out of 600 volunteers.  He received the Volunteer of the year award from the Charleston News and Courier for his efforts at the Medical University, the Veterans Administration Center in Charleston, the Presbyterian Home in Summerville, and Bishop Gadsden.

He is survived by his wife of Charleston, SC; one son: Felix J. Nepveux , IV (Sissy) of Greenville, SC; one daughter: Susan N. Peiffer (Bob) of Charleston, SC; seven grandchildren: Muriel Elizabeth Nepveux Kosmas (Paul), Rallie Gilchrist Nepveux Snowden (Montez), Felix Joseph Nepveux V, Earle Rowland III (Lee), and Anne Trenholm Gratz (Luke), Robert Wharton Peiffer (Dori), Gary John Peiffer (Kathe): thirteen great grandchildren, Hannah  Muriel Kosmas, Dawson McDonald Kosmas, Malcolm Paul Kosmas, David Barrett Kosmas, Kiley Bell Rowland, Lucas Lee Gratz, Jr., Peyton Bryce Gratz and Jackson Gerald Gratz, Robert Andras Peiffer, Matthew Kristof Peiffer, Adam Benjamin Peiffer, Emma Irene Peiffer, and Cory E. Peiffer; one brother: Reginald J. Nepveux (Jane) of Charleston, SC: neice; Shyler Nepveux

The relatives and friends of Dr. and Mrs. Felix J. Nepveux, III are invited to attend the funeral services of the former Tuesday October 26, 2010 in Second Presbyterian Church at 10am. Burial will follow in Johns Island Presbyterian Churchyard. The family will receive friends Monday in J. Henry Stuhr Inc. Downtown Chapel between 5:00 and 7:00.

Memorials may be made to Second Presbyterian Church, 342 Meeting Street, Charleston, SC 29403 or Johns Island Presbyterian Church, 2550 Bohicket Road, Johns Island, SC 29455