William Connor

Reverend William "Bill" Dennis Connor, Sr., 92, husband of the late Mary Emma Bailey Connor, of Mt. Pleasant, SC, passed away on Tuesday, November 9, 2010. The relatives and friends of Reverend William "Bill" Connor, Sr. are invited to attend his Funeral Service on Saturday, November 13, 2010 in First Baptist Church of Mt. Pleasant, at 12:30 p.m.  Burial will follow in Mt. Pleasant Memorial Gardens. The family will receive friends on Friday, November 12, 2010 in J. HENRY STUHR, INC.,  MOUNT PLEASANT CHAPEL from 6:00 until 8:00 P.M.  

Reverend Connor was born on February 14, 1918 at Bat Cave, Henderson County, North Carolina. He was the son of the late William Mitchell Connor and Mary Ann Virginia Freeman Connor. He attended Henderson and McDowell County schools and graduated from East Flat Rock High School.  He attended Florida Bible Institute and the University of South Carolina. Rev. Connor began his pastoral work in Columbia while a student at the University of South Carolina.  He was a retired Baptist minister who served more than fifty years in pastoral ministry. His pastorate began with the Forest Drive Chapel of First Baptist Church, Columbia, which he led to being constituted as a church.  After a sanctuary and later an educational building were built, he went back on the First Baptist Staff in a dual capacity: outreach minister and pastor of the church's Pine Bluff mission.  He was called to pastor First Baptist Church, Mt. Pleasant in September 1957 and served there from 1957 until 1979.  In 1979 he accepted a call from Western Avenue Baptist Church in Statesville, NC and served there until he retired in 1983.  There he served as Associate Pastor of Education.  Dr. Ralph F. Carter, Jr. was pastor.  Carter had served a few years earlier as Associate Pastor of Youth at Mount Pleasant First Baptist Church. Upon reaching sixty-five, Bill retired from his position in Statesville and returned to Charleston, in order to live near his three children and grandchildren, all of which still lived in Mt. Pleasant..  He served as interim pastor of the following Baptist churches: Hopewell (Adams Run), Holmes Avenue, St. Andrews First Baptist Church, Brentwood, Highland Park, Sauldam, Friendship (twice), Hillcrest, Awendaw, Wando and Ravenel First Baptist Church. Between interim pastorates, he supply preached for more than 25 other area churches. 

He is survived by his three children, Phyllis Connor of Mt. Pleasant, SC, Sandra Connor McGrew and her husband, Roy, of James Island and William D. "Bill" Connor, Jr. and his wife, Barbara, of Mt. Pleasant, SC; nine grandchildren: Katherine (Roy) Knight of Mt. Pleasant, Stephen (Marisa) Little of Mt. Pleasant, SC and Joy (Mike) Wireman of Charleston, SC, Leroy (Deirdre) McGrew of Mt. Pleasant, SC, Brock (Tetiana) McGrew of James Island, SC, Christopher (Kelly) LaCour of Mt. Pleasant, SC and Nicholas LaCour of Blackburg, VA, Emma and Amber Connor both of Mt. Pleasant, SC and sixteen great grandchildren. He is also survived by one brother, Glen Connor and one sister, Alice Connor Schuller, both of Hendersonville, NC, seven nieces and eight nephews and their families. He was preceded in death by his wife, six brothers, one sister, two nieces and one nephew. 

Flowers will be accepted or memorials may be made to Bonnie Doone Conference Center Foundation, 5878 Bonnie Doone Road, Walterboro, SC  29488 or to a charity of one's choice