Walter Richard Pettiss

Walter Richard Pettiss passed out of this world on August 31, 2024. He was the last-born son of Mary Ida Vaughan and Jerry Dickson Pettiss, born on December 13, 1933 in Morehouse Parish Louisiana. He was predeceased by both parents as well as 4 brothers and 2 sisters. Walt was married to Shirley Hursh on February 5, 1954 and shortly thereafter was drafted into the U.S. Army where he served as infantry in Korea on the 38th Parallel from 1955-1957. He was fond of saying “the Korean War was over, but someone forgot to tell the Koreans.” He returned home to Louisiana and quickly applied to Georgia Tech and moved to Atlanta Georgia. Before graduating from Tech in 1961, a classmate bet him he couldn’t get into get into Harvard Business School - so Walt applied and won the bet, graduating in 1963. Walt and Shirley eventually ended up in South Carolina where he began working for Milliken & Company in Blacksburg, SC, starting out at the Magnolia finishing plant. He worked his way to Milliken Research where he met Roger Milliken one morning by running into him in the hallway and spilling his hot coffee all over him. He believed that was the end of his Milliken career, but he continued to work in some capacity with Mr. Milliken up until Milliken’s passing. Walter was later described as a “Republican pioneer and key associate of textile magnate and conservative activist Roger Milliken.”

Walt was with Milliken & Co. for 19 years eventually becoming Vice President and Assistant Treasurer. 

He was Chief of Staff (or as he liked to say, “the in house sonuvabitch”) for Governor James B. Edwards from 1975 to 1979. 

During that time King Hussein bin Talal visited South Carolina, and during a State dinner, King Hussein asked SC First Lady Anne Edwards who Walt was, and she smoothly replied, “he’s the Prime Minister of South Carolina.” Shortly thereafter, the Governor secured the SC license plate “PM” for Walt’s prize burnt orange 1969 Porche, which was equipped with a CB radio and, for years after he was known on SC highways as “the Prime Minister” by truckers, SCHP and SLED officers. For many years, Walt had that license plate, as well as PM1 and PM2 – held by his second car and the car of the love of his life, Shirley.

He was later asked to join the former Gov. Edwards as the Secretary of Energy for the Department of Energy under President Ronal Reagan, starting in 1980. 

During his time in Washington, D.C., Walt was the Project Manager of President Ronald Reagan’s Private Sector Survey, also known as the “Grace Commission,” working with DOE, the Federal Regulatory Commission and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 

Following his government service, he was a founder of the first long distance carrier in the state of South Carolina, TSI (Telecommunications Systems, Inc.) after the dissolution of “Ma Bell” becoming the only company that had working long distance service in Charleston immediately after Hurricane Hugo. 

He was at one time on the Board of Directors of SC ETV. (1987)

He was a founding member of Carolina Country Club and spent a great deal of time watching and talking about the golf course being built, though he never played a round of golf ever in his life that his family remembers.

In approximately 1990 he was hired to run WJB Video, the nation’s largest franchise owner of Blockbuster Video stores.

He was the Charmian of the State Board of Economic Advisors, which is a division of the SC Budget and Control Board, and the main economic adviser and consultant to the SC state government in the late 1980’s, resigning in 1991 to devote more time to WJB-TV, LP, a provider of wireless cable television services in Florida and its successor corporation Wireless Broadcasting System of America, Inc. He was the Chief Operating officer from 1992- 1994. In 1991 he served as a director of Electronic Power Technology, Inc., and became Chairman of the Board of Directors of EPT in 1995. Vice President of PCS from April to August of 1995.

In 1999 he was Executive Vice President of customer service for Powertel, a wireless company based out of Jacksonville Florida, and the Executive VP and general manager for the Jacksonville Florida MTA from 1995-1999. He was fond of telling anyone he met that he had once stolen 1 million wireless customers from AT&T during his tenure at Powertel. 

He retired approximately 7 times.

Of all of his accomplishments, travelling with his wife Shirley was his favorite pastime. They traveled around the world twice, completed Range Rover Driving school in both Colorado and England, enjoyed a Scottish train tour, complete with scotch tastings, river tours in Europe, and fishing trips to Alaska. He particularly loved China and Japan, and often marveled how both countries changed so much and so quickly over the years. He also continuously tried to convince Shirley to move to New Zealand, convinced there were business opportunities to be had in a country he found to be remarkably beautiful. One of his greatest memories, before Alzheimer’s stole it away from him, was meeting Queen Elizabeth II at the opening of an American Air Museum in honor of the World War II Air Force in London, when she walked up and took his arm and he found himself walking her up a gangplank to an aircraft, his wife Shirley following behind. He often marveled at the fact that a boy from Bayou Bartholomew had met an actual Queen. 

Walt is survived by his wife of 70 years, Shirley, two daughters, Amy Pettiss of Central S.C. and Lara Pettiss of Spartanburg, S.C, four grandchildren, Benjamin R. Hinson (Katie), Dustin Hinson, Tristan V. Harrill and Viviann F. Harrill, as well as two great-grandchildren, Emma Jane Hinson and Jack Palmer Hinson. He also leaves behind beloved Pettiss nieces and nephews who always kept in contact and were devoted to him until his death.

The family wishes to thank Spartanburg Regional Hospice for their exceptional care and support during his short time on Hospice. We are forever grateful. 

The family is honoring Walt’s wishes to not have a funeral but will have a private family gathering in the near future. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in his name to The Cottage School, 700 Grimes Bridges Road, Roswell, GA 30075.