Obituary - Henry Spann Laffitte

Henry Spann Laffitte, 74, died Thursday, December 31, 2015, in Allendale, SC. A graveside service will be held in Lawtonville Cemetery in Estill, SC, on Saturday, January 2, 2016, at 2:00 p.m., to be followed by visitation at the family home in Allendale. He was born August 30, 1941, in Estill, SC, a son of the late Charles Atkins and Rosalie Spann Laffitte. A graduate of Allendale-Fairfax High School, he attended The Citadel and graduated from The University of South Carolina with a B.S. and a Master's of Business Administration. He served as president of the Carolina Commercial Bank in Allendale, SC. Upon its merger with Palmetto State Bank in 2007, he became executive vice chairman of Palmetto State Bank. He served as a board member of the Independent Banks of South Carolina and South Carolina Bankers Association. He was named Outstanding Young Banker, the highest honor presented in the South Carolina banking industry. He served as president of the Young Bankers Division of the South Carolina Bankers Association and as chairman of the South Carolina Bankers School. He was a graduate of the South Carolina Bankers School, the School of Banking of the South at LSU, and of the Stonier Graduate School of Banking at Rutgers. He served as a member of the American Bankers Association Community Bankers Group, and he was involved in acquiring funding and supplies for the ABA's Personal Economic Program. He took an active part in a wide variety of cultural and community organizations throughout South Carolina, some of which were Allendale County Council, Allendale County Alive, Allendale County Historical Society (president), Lebanon Association (president), the Huguenot Society of South Carolina (president), the General Society of Colonial Wars, the Society of First Families of South Carolina, the South Carolina Historical Society Board, St. Andrew's Society of Columbia (president), Governor's Mansion Foundation, the S.C. State Museum Board, and the S.C. Archives and History Museum Board. He was a man of extraordinary faith and was a member of the Allendale Presbyterian Church, where he had served as deacon and elder. He devoted his life in multiple endeavors designed to strengthen his community and his state and to serve others. His family, especially his grandchildren, gave him great joy. He was one of a kind and loved by all. While he will be greatly missed, he leaves behind a lasting legacy of a life well-lived. Surviving are his wife of almost 50 years, Elizabeth Peeples Laffitte; and their two children, Henry Spann Laffitte, Jr. and his wife, Elizabeth Fraser Laffitte, of Columbia, and Elizabeth Laffitte Hutton and her husband, George Sargeant Hutton, of Columbia; and his grandchildren, Alice Lowndes Laffitte, Lucille Morrison Laffitte, Elizabeth Anne Hutton, Henry Sargeant Hutton and George Stearns Hutton of Columbia. Also surviving are his two brothers, Charles Atkins Laffitte, Jr. (LaClaire) of Hampton, and Montague Tucker Laffitte (Ann) of Bluffton, and multitudes of other beloved family members. Memorials contributions may be made to: Allendale Presbyterian Church, P.O. Box 554, Allendale, SC 29810, Lawtonville Cemetery Association, PO Box 200, Estill, SC 29918, Epworth Children's Home, 2900 Millwood Ave., Columbia, SC 29205, Lebanon Cemetery Association, P.O. Box 445, Estill, SC 29918. The family would welcome written remembrances. Keith Smith Funeral Service, 128 Water Street, Allendale, SC 29810. 

Published in The State January 2, 2016