Staff reports | A lion of the state Senate, former Sen. John Drummond, died over the weekend at age 96, a number that is the same as his hometown, Ninety Six. For 44 years, he represented his community and the Greenwood County area in the General Assembly.
A decorated World War II fighter pilot who became a prisoner of war, Drummond was a soft-spoken leader known as a “bulldog” for his iron will to do the right thing. A Democrat, he believed partisanship should be left at the door after elections were over.
First elected to the S.C. House in the mid -1960s, he was elected to the state Senate in 1966, where he served through the years as Senate majority leader, Senate Finance Committee chairman and president pro tempore until retirement after the 2008 session. Some remembrances from colleagues:
“If Tom Brokaw was looking for somebody else to put in the book [“The Greatest Generation”], Sen. Drummond would fit right in there.” — S.C. Sen. Brad Hutto, D-Orangeburg.
“A true patriot in the greatest sense of the word.” — Sen. John Courson, R-Richland.
Drummond was buried Wednesday in Elmwood Cemetery in Ninety Six.
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