Lauderdale: How Beaufort got its style
Beaufort was Dee Hryharrow's castle.
And in 97 years of life that ended peacefully last week, she gave it style.
Beaufort looked like her glory days were gone when Ruby Ellis Danner "Dee" Hyrharrow was born here in 1918.
But she was a Danner, leaders for generations in the business, civic, social and church life of the small town.
Her father and husband, Connecticut Yankee John Hryharrow, ran the Wallace and Danner department store, a Bay Street fixture for almost a century until the advent of Jean Ribaut Square on the outskirts of town.
Her family lived in a mansion that filled a city block in The Point, its columns so grand it is still called "the castle."
Dee did things not many women of her era did. She got a college degree in English literature from the University of Richmond and studied art at the Pratt Institute in New York. She lived for several years in Greenwich Village. She loved it but not as much as moving home to Beaufort with her husband and three babies.
She was an artist, painting so many pastel portraits of Beaufort children that she ended up painting their grandchildren as well. She also painted watercolors of flowers.
She researched exotic topics for more than 50 years as a member of the Clover Club. Her grandmother was a founder of the 125-year-old literary and social group that helped the public library survive.
She welcomed a teenage military dependent named Pat Conroy to Beaufort, helping him latch onto a town he still calls home.
And she hung out with a group of stylish women who did remarkable things. Ann Head wrote novels. Harriet Keyserling became a political leader. Madeleine Pollitzer taught children to dance and ride horses and was a caterer with the skills to run the dining room at the Okeetee Club in Ridgeland. A rendition of Madeleine's famous ham biscuits were prepared for Dee's memorial service Saturday at the Parish Church of St. Helena.
Dee went into real estate sales when her youngest child, Dale Friedman, left for college. She was 57. She made a killing.
But for me, her style showed best in a spiral-bound book she produced with her friend Isabel M. Hoogenboom.
"The Beaufort Cook Book: A Treasury of Carolina Recipes," came out in 1976 and welcomed us to the Lowcountry.
She showed us Bluffton Shrimp Pilau, Shad Roe with Sauterne, Roast Tenderloin of Beef Limousine from the William Hilton Inn on Hilton Head Island, Prophet's Shrimp Singapore, Beaufort Shrimp Pie, Peggy's Deviled Crab and Battery Creek Crab Salad.
I now realize that the list of contributors in the back, most of them women hidden behind their husband's names, is a hall of fame of Lowcountry style.
Dee's husband died a quarter of a century ago. She was showing real estate in her 90s. When they took her car away, she insisted she needed it to make a living. She was 94. At her 90th birthday party, Dr. Gene Grace asked anyone she'd ever told, "You're my favorite man," to raise a hand. They all did.
In the end, Dee went to sleep and didn't wake up.
Her can-do generation is fading away like that. But we can clip out their recipe on how to feel like we live in a castle.
Follow columnist and senior editor David Lauderdale at twitter.com/ThatsLauderdale and facebook.com/david.lauderdale.16.
This story was originally published January 30, 2016 at 8:08 PM with the headline "Lauderdale: How Beaufort got its style."