South Carolina H 4529: Frank Ladson sympathy

Bill Text

2025-2026 Bill 4529 Text of Previous Version (May. 08, 2025) - South Carolina Legislature Online 

South Carolina General Assembly
126th Session, 2025-2026

Bill 4529

Indicates Matter Stricken
Indicates New Matter

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A house RESOLUTION

TO EXPRESS THE PROFOUND SORROW OF THE MEMBERS OF THE 
SOUTH CAROLINA HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES UPON THE PASSING OF Frank Ladson OF 
Sumter COUNTY AND TO EXTEND THEIR DEEPEST SYMPATHY TO HIS LOVING FAMILY AND HIS 
MANY FRIENDS.

Whereas, the members of 
the South Carolina House of Representatives were saddened to learn of the death 
of Frank Ladson at the age of eighty-eighty on Sunday, April 27, 2025; and

Whereas, born in Sumter 
on July 12, 1936, Frank was the oldest of seven children born to Josh Ladson, a 
foreman for the railroad system, and Julia Singleton Ladson, a home keeper. He 
was reared in Sumter in a loving home with his siblings: the late Lucille 
George, Mereese Ladson, and James Ladson, and still living Ike Ladson, 
Catherine Fogle, and Julia Davis Moten. When Frank was nine years old, he lost 
his father and had to become the man of the family; and

Whereas, during his 
early childhood Frank accepted Christ as his lord and savior while attending 
Jehovah Missionary Baptist Church. An excellent student and active in sports, 
Frank worked numerous jobs, including working at the former Sunset Country Club 
and Cut Rate Pharmacy and Diner; and

Whereas, he graduated 
from Lincoln High School in 1954, and upon graduation, he joined the United 
States Navy. He graduated from basic training and was stationed at Moffett 
Field, California. His next assignment was in New York as a Navy recruiter, 
where he met his future wife, Dorothy Bethune; and 

Whereas, together with 
his beloved wife, Dorothy, he had one son, Franklin Ladson, who retired as a 
Lieutenant Colonel from the United States Air Force. Franklin and his wife, 
Sue, blessed his parents with the affection of two loving grandchildren, Joshua 
Robert Ladson of Columbia and Julia Danielle Ladson of Charlotte, North 
Carolina; and

Whereas, Mr. Ladson's military 
career moved them to Camp Pendleton in San Diego, California. Orders for 
Okinawa, Japan, meant he had to leave the family behind to serve as a corpsman 
with the fleet marines, deploying to Vietnam numerous times. Then his family 
joined him in Sasebo, Japan, where he was assigned to the USS Gannet, a mine 
sweeper, specializing in special mine countermeasure operations in the South 
China Sea and supporting United States naval operations along the coast of 
Vietnam; and

Whereas, the family 
moved back to San Diego and then to Quantico Marine Corps Base in Virginia, his 
next duty station. They followed his assignments to Subic Bay Navy Base in the 
Philippines and back to the Washington, D. C. area, where Mr. Ladson was 
appointed senior Non-Commissioned Officer at a naval medical facility. Next, 
they moved to Rota Naval Base in Rota, Spain, where he was assigned as the 
Command Master Chief for the hospital, and then to the Naval Hospital in 
Beaufort as the Command Master Chief; and

Whereas, after thirty-one 
years of distinguished service to his country, Mr. Ladson retired from the Navy 
in 1985, and he and Dorothy moved to Paxville to be close to their families. They 
enjoyed gardening, fishing, spending time there with their family and friends, 
and especially traveling to visit their son and his family at the various Air 
Force bases where he was stationed in the United States and Europe; and

Whereas, the members of 
the South Carolina House of Representatives are grateful for the life and 
legacy of Frank Ladson and for the example of dedicated service and excellence 
he set for all who knew him. Now, therefore,

Be it resolved by the House 
of Representatives:

That the members of the South Carolina House of Representatives, by this resolution, express 
their profound sorrow upon the passing of Frank Ladson of Sumter County and 
extend their deepest sympathy to his loving family and his many friends.

Be it further resolved that a copy of this 
resolution be presented to the family of Frank Ladson. 

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This web page was last updated on May 08, 2025 at 11:34 AM