Donald M Law

AIKEN, SC -  Donald M. Law, 94, retired newspaperman, died January 31, 2017 at Aiken Regional Medical Center. Funeral services will be held February 8, 2017 at 11 a.m. at First Presbyterian Church, with Rev. Dr. Brian Coulter officiating. The family will receive friends in the church parlor following the memorial service. Burial will be at the Ridge Spring Cemetery and will be private. Mr. Law was born at Elliott, SC and was a son of the late Robert W. and Mary English Beard Law.  He was the last of nine children. He graduated from the University of South Carolina, where he was editor of the Gamecock, president of the YMCA and a member of Kappa Sigma Kappa and Omicron Delta Kappa honorary fraternities. He served as a B-17 navigator during World War II and was credited with over 30 missions over Europe. He received the Distinguished Flying Cross. He retired from the Air Force Reserve as a lieutenant colonel. As journalism major at USC, he was employed by the Columbia Record and later worked for the Spartanburg Herald and the Orangeburg Times and Democrat. In 1952 he was employed by the Du Pont Co. at the Savannah River Site and retired as a media relations specialist in 1982. He then became associate editor of the Aiken Standard and continued as a contributing editor after retirement at age 65. He was the author of two books of local history, Connections: The History of the First Presbyterian Church of Aiken, with Lorraine Minton as co-author and Forever Flourishing, the history of Aiken Preparatory School. Mr. Law served for many years as an elder of Aiken’s First Presbyterian Church. He was twice elected commissioner to the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church. He served as a trustee of Rabun Gap-Nacoochee School. He served as president of Historic Aiken Foundation and as a member of the City of Aiken Historic Preservation Commission. He was a member of the Torch Club of Augusta, and served as the club’s president. He is a former member of the board of the South Caroliniana Society. His hobby was book collecting, and he specialized in Caroliniana. He was married to Julia Ernestine Bodie of Ridge Spring, a newspaperwoman who was for 25 years an associate professor of journalism at the University of South Carolina Aiken.  Mrs. Law died in 1999. Surviving are sons: McDonald Law (Ilona), Ernest Law, Charlie Law (Kathy); grandchildren: Gregg Law, Joseph Law (Brittany), Margaret Fields (Matt), Zander Law, Leighton Law, and Harriett Law; great grandchildren: Vivian Law, Julia Law, Dean Law and Ada Fields. Honorary pallbearers will be:  Scott Hunter, Walt Joseph, Kevin Price, Jack Hunter and Rooney Floyd. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to:  First Presbyterian Church, 224 Barnwell Ave., NW, Aiken, SC 29801, the African Center for the History, Arts and Culture, 120 York St NE, Aiken, SC 29801, or the Mead Hall Building Fund, 129 Pendleton St., Aiken, SC 29801. The family would like to thank his caregivers at Shadow Oaks Assisted Living. SHELLHOUSE FUNERAL HOME, INC., 924 HAYNE AVE., AIKEN, SC Don's online guest book may be signed at www.shellhousefuneralhome.com To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Donald M Law, please visit our flower store.