Letter: The remarkable Willie Scheper

Beaufort lost one of its brightest-burning lights on Thursday, when Willie Scheper finally succumbed to illness at age 87. There will never be another one like him.

Though he never considered himself “Beaufort royalty,” which he was, he held high the Lowcountry banner from The Citadel to Korea and back. He had a wit as facile as quicksilver and a warm, ingratiating manner that put everyone around him at ease.

Inheriting the helm of the cherished People’s Bank from his father, he once ran afoul of bank regulators for making loans, “off the books,” some without interest. He was simply incapable of refusing help to the many shrimpers, farmers and commercial fishermen who were his friends, though many of them couldn’t qualify for a loan.

Willie had an accent like a Charlestonian drinking cane syrup. His stories could spellbind you, and his amazing mind never left him, even in his final days. It mystified people half his age.

He went to meet his maker with a dignity you could only wonder at. We ought to commission a statue of him at Carteret and Bay.

This story was originally published February 10, 2017 at 1:57 PM with the headline "Letter: The remarkable Willie Scheper."