Lois Eargle A Giant Among Men (Special Edition) A Tribute to the Former Horry County Auditor

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On November 14, 2021,  on a Sunday, Horry County, South Carolina, lost a towering giant in the history of the region. Lois Eargle was a trailblazer, never politically correct, and never afraid to speak her mind. She was an unabashedly proud public servant for the people of Horry County and most of all a servant of her Lord, Jesus Christ. 

She opened doors for young people,  an especially women in politics, as the first woman elected to the South Carolina State House from Horry County and then the first woman elected Horry County Auditor. By the time her long, nearly 50 year career was through,  she retired this summer in July of 2021, Horry County had not only a female Horry County Auditor replacing her  but women held the Treasurer's Office, the Probate Judge's office, a former Chairman of County Council, another legislator from Horry County from Socastee was a woman and the Mayor's of Myrtle Beach, North Myrtle Beach, and Conway  were all women plus countless members of city councils all across the county, and a former Mayor of Atlantic Beach were women, and even a former Governor and prospect for President from South Carolina was a  women. 

In countless ways Lois Eargle led the way, she may not have always done it perfectly, but she surely did it in style and one thing everyone will agree on is that Lois Eargle won't be forgotten when they write the history of the Independent Republic of Horry County for the nearly 50 years she stood tall on her times. 

On a personal note, she was an enormous influence on my life and career from the time I met her when I was 13 years old and she was a candidate for the United States Congress. She would go on to be my employer, a mentor, an advisor, an occasional adversary but always a  friend and someone whom I could always count on for help if I needed it.  I was, as was almost everyone who ever knew Lois Eargle,  always, always  star struck. As the Carly Simon song says "Nobody Does it Better" and in our little corner of the world that song described no one in the political world better than Lois Eargle. 

So here is our tribute to her. 

(We would like to thank Greg Everett , Dianne Devaughn and Chuck Stokes for allowing us to use all of their available interviews to put this tribute together as well as WBTW, WPDE and the campaign commercial archives of Congressman Tom Rice. This show would not have been possible with out the use of their material ) 

Questions or comments at , [email protected] , https://twitter.com/randal_wallace , and http://www.randalwallace.com/
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