H 5033  Resolution, By S.Williams, Alexander, Allison, Anderson, Atkinson, Bailey, 
Bales, Ballentine, Bamberg, Bannister, Bennett, Bernstein, Blackwell, Bradley, 
Brawley, Brown, Bryant, Burns, Calhoon, Caskey, Chellis, Chumley, Clary, 
Clemmons, Clyburn, Cobb-Hunter, Cogswell, Collins, B.Cox, W.Cox, Crawford, 
Daning, Davis, Dillard, Elliott, Erickson, Felder, Finlay, Forrest, Forrester, 
Fry, Funderburk, Gagnon, Garvin, Gilliam, Gilliard, Govan, Haddon, Hardee, 
Hart, Hayes, Henderson-Myers, Henegan, Herbkersman, Hewitt, Hill, Hiott, 
Hixon, Hosey, Howard, Huggins, Hyde, Jefferson, Johnson, Jones, Jordan, 
Kimmons, King, Kirby, Ligon, Long, Lowe, Lucas, Mace, Mack, Magnuson, Martin, 
Matthews, McCoy, McCravy, McDaniel, McGinnis, McKnight, Moore, Morgan, D.C.Moss, 
V.S.Moss, Murphy, B.Newton, W.Newton, Norrell, Oremus, Ott, Parks, Pendarvis, 
Pope, Ridgeway, Rivers, Robinson, Rose, Rutherford, Sandifer, Simrill, G.M.Smith, 
G.R.Smith, Sottile, Spires, Stavrinakis, Stringer, Tallon, Taylor, Thayer, 
Thigpen, Toole, Trantham, Weeks, West, Wheeler, White, Whitmire, R.Williams, 
Willis, Wooten and Yow
 A HOUSE RESOLUTION TO CONGRATULATE JOHNNIE ELIZABETH WATTS BAMPFIELD OF
 HAMPTON COUNTY ON THE OCCASION OF HER ONE HUNDREDTH BIRTHDAY AND TO WISH HER A
 JOYOUS BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION AND MANY YEARS OF CONTINUED HEALTH AND HAPPINESS.
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   01/28/20  House  Introduced and adopted (House Journal-page 23)

TO CONGRATULATE JOHNNIE ELIZABETH WATTS BAMPFIELD OF HAMPTON COUNTY ON THE OCCASION OF HER ONE HUNDREDTH BIRTHDAY AND TO WISH HER A JOYOUS BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION AND MANY YEARS OF CONTINUED HEALTH AND HAPPINESS.

Whereas, the members of the South Carolina House of Representatives are delighted to learn that Johnnie Elizabeth Watts Bampfield of Hampton County will celebrate her one hundredth birthday on February 25, 2020; and

Whereas, born in Fairfax on February 25, 1920, in the early part of the twentieth century, she has witnessed many remarkable social changes, technological advancements, and international developments that have spanned the globe from that time into the second decade of the twenty-first century; and

Whereas, one of nine children born to Estella and Reverend John Quincy Watts, Johnnie moved with the family after her father's death to the Rivers farm between Crockettville and Hampton; and

Whereas, in 1928, she moved to Hampton and attended Huspah Elementary School, a wooden structure with two classrooms, where she received her early education and learned to play basketball. She joined the Huspah Missionary Baptist Church at an early age; and

Whereas, when young Johnnie moved to Savannah, Georgia, with her cousin whose husband was a school teacher, she attended the Tyler Street School for a year; and

Whereas, she returned to Hampton and was recruited by Ms. Lucy Hughes to attend The Mather School, a boarding school for girls in Beaufort. Her mother and her sister Alma managed to send her six dollars a month from their meager income, and she worked for her room and board. She graduated in 1936 and is believed to be the school's oldest living graduate; and

Whereas, the following year, when Johnnie Watts was attending South Carolina State University, she met and married her first husband James Howard Bampfield from Yemassee; and

Whereas, the young couple moved to Beaufort where they remained for sixteen years, and in 1940, they were blessed with the birth of their first daughter, Ethel; and

Whereas, in 1950, the mother and daughter joined Mr. Bampfield in New York, but the family returned to Hampton in 1951 and were blessed with another daughter, Gwen; and

Whereas, after completing her education at Claflin College in 1957, Mrs. Bampfield taught elementary school in Dale and then at the Hampton Colored School before joining her husband in Brooklyn, New York. She worked with children in the Spofford Juvenile Detention Center in Bronx, New York, for almost twenty years; and

Whereas, her adopted daughter, Barbara J. Lee, joined the family in 1964, and in 1978, Johnnie Bampfield returned to Hampton and married the late Deacon Felder James and added a son to her family, the late Randy James. She served the Senior Center in Estill in arts and crafts and was appointed as the first director of the Palmetto Development Center where she served twelve years; and

Whereas, she continued to volunteer at the Council on Aging Center in Hampton and cooked her famous Sunday fellowship dinners as long as her health permitted. She has been blessed with the affection of six grandchildren, eight great-grandchildren, and fourteen great-great-grandchildren; and

Whereas, the members of the South Carolina House of Representatives are pleased to honor this daughter of South Carolina at the celebration of her one hundredth birthday and join with her family and friends in congratulating her on reaching this extraordinary milestone. Now, therefore,

Be it resolved by the House of Representatives:

That the members of the South Carolina House of Representatives, by this resolution, congratulate Johnnie Elizabeth Watts Bampfield of Hampton County on the occasion of her one hundredth birthday and wish her a joyous birthday celebration and many years of continued health and happiness.

Be it further resolved that a copy of this resolution be provided to Johnnie Elizabeth Watts Bampfield.