Phyllis Buchheit DeLapp

Phyllis Buchheit DeLapp, age 86, a noted community leader, philanthropist and businesswoman, died unexpectedly Saturday, July 9, 2022.

Phyllis, called "GM" by her grandchildren, was born in Wilmington, NC on July 23, 1935, to Philip A. Buchheit and Laurene Atchison Buchheit.

While Phyllis’ father, Philip Buchheit, a businessman and advertising manager, was employed with the Macon Telegraph & News, they purchased the company now known as The Spartanburg Herald Journal. Philip was then assigned to Spartanburg, SC where he was named Publisher of The Spartanburg Herald Journal. Soon thereafter, he decided to start his own company, Mid-South Management, that bought small daily and large weekly newspapers. Philip had found his niche. He was a successful newspaper publisher for 35 years and he remained quite successful until his death at age 72.

Upon their father’s death, Phyllis and her brother, Bill, continued the family’s success for Mid-South Management, which consisted of 17 newspapers and approximately 500 employees. Phyllis attributed Mid-South Management’s success to the efforts of their employees, that she considered family.

Phyllis worked her entire life, starting out as a journalist writing obituaries in her twenties, and then as a foreign correspondent for the Spartanburg Herald Journal while her first husband was stationed in Japan with the Marine Corps. She wrote feature stories on everything from how to do Japanese flower arranging to Japanese cooking.

She met her second husband Bob DeLapp on a blind date. She’d been told he was the greatest dancer in South Carolina. He made her laugh and kept her laughing throughout their thirty years of marriage. Phyllis said the secret to their happy life together was that they truly liked each other and enjoyed being together.

Phyllis’s steadfast elegance was surpassed only by her servant’s heart and love of family. She had the ability to identify needs unmet and would work tirelessly to solve community problems, giving generously of her time and treasure and encouraging others to do so as well.

The Buchheit Family Lecture Series was created in honor of Phyllis’s father. The series is sponsored by the Buchheit Family Endowment, which provides undergraduate scholarships and graduate and doctoral fellowships to students of the University of S.C.’s School of Journalism and Mass Communications.

Phyllis, always vibrant, frugal, opinionated, and charming, was presented the Philanthropist of the Year Award by the National Society for Professional Fundraisers

in 1998 for her longtime support of Spartanburg Methodist College, a place very dear to her and her family, where she had served as Board Chair and co-chair of the college’s fundraising campaign.

She was one of the original Spartanburg Regional Healthcare System Foundation Board members, funding an Emergency Room and helping to raise funds for the SRHS Hospice House.

The SC School for the Deaf and Blind awarded Phyllis the title of Trustee Emerita “in recognition of her exemplary service and dedication to The SC School for the Deaf and Blind.” She was one of only three people to receive this honor and the only woman to do so in their Walker Foundation Board’s 40 year history. She first became involved with the school one winter when a snowstorm stranded students in Spartanburg. The students were staying in the fire station across from the school and many didn’t have coats. Phyllis stepped up to provide coats that year and continued to do so every winter for the rest of her life. She served on that Board for over a decade.

The Kiwanis Club of Spartanburg named Phyllis the 2020 Citizen of the Year in recognition "for her contributions as a Businesswoman, Journalist, and Philanthropist."

Phyllis valued family and the legacy of family above all else. She was awarded her most treasured title “GM” by granddaughter Hannah in a letter Hannah sent Phyllis one summer from camp. Young Hannah, unsure of the spelling of Grandmother, simply addressed her letter to GM, and the beloved title stuck. GM loved a good Bloody Mary, having fun, all things “royal” – especially British and Russian, and eating sweets.

She was predeceased by her beloved husband, Robert “Bob” DeLapp, her children, Laurie Babb Barnett and Philip J. Babb; and brother, William Carmage Buchheit.

She is survived by her son Andrew Babb and his wife Kitsy, and her grandchildren Sarah Barnett (Moe Fadel), Katie Maxwell (Jesse), Andrew Barnett, Kathleen Babb, and Hannah Babb, one great grandchild, River Maxwell, her stepson, Robert E. DeLapp (Sandra); sister in-law, Mellnee Gardner Buchheit; niece, Bonnie B. Salvatierra (Stephen); nephews, William C. Buchheit, Jr. and Philip G. Buchheit (Christina); and three great nieces & nephews.

A celebration of her life will be held on Wednesday, July 13, 2022 at 12:30 pm at the Episcopal Church of the Advent, 141 Advent Street, Spartanburg, with the Reverend J. Edward Morris officiating.

A reception will immediately follow at the Piedmont Club; 361 E. Main St., Spartanburg, SC.

A private committal will be held.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Spartanburg Methodist College, 1000 Powell Mill Road, Spartanburg, SC 29301 or the South Carolina School for the Deaf and the Blind Foundation, 355 Cedar Springs Rd., Spartanburg, SC 29302.