Marion Hutson Sass

Mr. Marion "Chick" Hutson Sass, 81, of Charleston, died Tuesday evening July 12^th at his residence in Ashley Place.  Chick was born in Charleston on January 5, 1930, a son of noted Charleston Renaissance author Herbert Ravenel Sass and Marion McLeod Hutson Sass, and grew up on Legare Street. He started school at Miss Sadie Jervey's School on Legare Street, then attended Charleston Day School and the Gaud School.  He was usually at the top of his class.  He graduated from Episcopal High School, in Alexandria, Virginia, in 1947 and from Harvard University in 1951. Chick was involved as a speechwriter and researcher early in Senator Strom Thurmond's political career and developed an avid lifelong interest in studying Southern politics.

Chick Sass enlisted in the Navy OCS at Newport, Rhode Island, was commissioned an Ensign in 1952 and served for three years as a Diplomatic Courier traveling extensively for the Navy.   After his release from active duty, he entered the University of South Carolina Law School and graduated in 1957.   He practiced law for a short period on Broad Street before focusing his attention on Southern Politics as a Director in the Southern National Convention.  He spent the remainder of his years studying politics, focusing on Southern Nationalism, and continuing his father's study of Southern culture and natural history.  He was a member of the St. Cecilia Society and the Carolina Yacht Club. 

He was preceded in death by his second wife Carol Austen of England in 1966, his brother Herbert R. Sass, Jr., in 1984, and his sister Elizabeth (Betty) Elliott Sass Phillips in 2008, and is survived by five nieces and nephews: Herbert Ravenel Sass III of Mt. Pleasant, Douglas Hutson Sass of Charleston, Marion Phillips of Boston, John Charles Phillips of New York, and Elizabeth Phillips Hatch of Ipswich, MA.

A graveside service will be held at St. Philip's Churchyard, Monday, July 18,2011 at 10:00 a.m.   Memorials may be made in his memory to Pet Helpers at 1447 Folly Rd., Charleston, SC 29412.

Arrangements by J. HENRY STUHR, INC., DOWNTOWN CHAPEL.