‘A terrible loss’: Horry County school board honors member who died of COVID
For the second time this year, an Horry County school board meeting took a somber tone as its members mourned one of their own who died of COVID-19.
Ray Winters, who served Myrtle Beach and Carolina Forest in District 3, died Aug. 16 of COVID-19 complications after going to the hospital and being placed on a ventilator. His peers on the school board remembered him Monday night as a quiet family man whose unique sense of humor revealed itself selectively.
A white rose and banner in honor of Winters laid on the seat where he typically sat during board meetings.
“It’s shocking,” board member W. Russell Freeman said. “And a terrible loss.”
Winters, was who 50, is the second board member to die of the virus. John Poston, vice chairman, died of COVID-19 in January and was honored in a similar way at a February board meeting.
Winters served on the Horry County Board of Education since 2014.
Winters was remembered for his work on the school board and as a practicing attorney in the area, board members said. Winters is survived by his wife, Tracy, and his daughter, Alyssa.
“Alyssa was the apple of his eye,” said Janet Graham, who represents District 7. “He loved his wife, but Alyssa was the queen.”
Sharing memories of late board member
Board chair Ken Richardson and board members shared memories of Winters.
Richardson said he wore a Carolina Forest shirt to remember Winters and the community he represented.
District 2 board member Sherrie Todd said Winters pushed the district to be “better, better, better.”
“He worked tirelessly for us to be better, and he left us in a better place than when he came on this board,” Todd said.
David Cox, who represents District 4, called Winters “so doggone funny.” Cox, who was seated next to Winters at board meetings, said the two would joke and laugh together through the meetings, and he had a tough time beating Winters when they teased each other.
“Everyone who came to meet Ray left with a really good feeling,” Cox said.
To Richardson’s surprise, Winters was a huge fan of the “Star Wars” franchise, as he revealed during a lunch at the beginning of Richardson’s time as chairman.
“In that hour-and-a-half that we met for lunch, I learned more about ‘Star Wars’ than I had growing up in my whole life,” Richardson said at Monday’s board meeting.
Graham added that she jokingly referred to Winters as “Ray darling,” and it eventually became tradition for him to respond with “Janet darling,” revealing the quiet sense of humor that board members referenced through their comments.
Shanda Allen, who represents District 11, said Winters was “a giver” who consistently spoke of his family and was proud of his work on the school board.
“He always gave a piece of himself everywhere he went,” Allen said.
