Margaret Anne Kemp

“Anne Kemp, Autism Advocate, Dies” Margaret Anne Weaver Kemp, aged 73, died February 19, 2014. Her funeral will be Saturday, at 11:00 AM at Evergreen Baptist Church directed by Stoudenmire-Dowling Funeral Home.The family will receive visitors at Evergreen Baptist Church from 6:00-7:30 PM the Friday night before.Memorials may be made to Stem Cell research for the prevention of brain disorders such as dementia, Alzheimer’s and autism. Mrs. Kemp was born of the late Mr. Franklin David Weaver and Mrs. Aileen James Weaver of Darlington, S.C.on March 2, 1939.She attended St. John’s High School from where she graduated in 1957, and Landor College where she met the love of her life, the late James “Jim” Kemp. She served as Executive Director of the South Carolina Autistic Society of which she and her husband Jim were charter members.Mrs. Kemp worked closely with former S.C. Governor and Education Secretary Richard Riley and with the late Governor Carroll Campbell as well as a number of then members of the S.C. State Senate and House. She was instrumental in encouraging passage of many laws for educating autistic children. She also helped set in place an inordinate amount of programs for persons with autism and/or Asperger’s disease.During her repeated trips to California, she and others, including personalities Joanne Woodward, the first Mrs. Sly Stallone, and William Christopher, facilitated making autism the known entity that it is today. She remained with the program until she deemed it necessary to resign to care for her husband of 48 years who himself died from Alzheimer’s disease. During the 1970’s, Mrs. Kemp was a member of the Mason’s Eastern Star (a women’s organization) in which she held many offices including the highest in the East, the female equivalent to Grand Master Mason, her late husband’s office. In addition to these accomplishments, Mrs. Kemp worked in the Music Ministry of Evergreen Baptist Church for twenty-three years, first as pianist and then as Choir Director.Before that, she undertook the Children’s Choir under Mr. Howard Starks at Calvary Baptist Church in Florence for a few years. Prior to her calling with the Autistic Society, Mrs. Kemp worked as a teacher’s aide in the special education class at Royal Elementary (1976-1978) and drove the bus for the Munford Fuller Center in Florence in 1973 and 1974. She leaves behind two daughters, Mardrette “Mardie” Kemp, a teacher in Florence, and Mrs. John Polk (Sonia), an x-ray technician in the Lexington, SC. Mrs. Kemp also predeceases her beloved son, Cliff, who lives at the Pee Dee Center in Florence. In addition to her immediate family, other survivors include her step-mother, Phila Weaver, and a brother, Danny Weaver, both of Darlington as well as a half-brother, Grady Weaver, of Hartsville. She has two grandchildren, Leah and Jack. In addition to her blood relatives, she is survived by her faithful friend and “honorary sister”, Mrs. Etorie (Edie) Whittington. The family would like to express its deep appreciation to the staffs of Pee Dee Gardens and United Hospice for the excellent care they took of Mrs. Kemp. Memorials may be made to stem cell research for the prevention of brain disorders, Evergreen Baptist Church or to Danya Jordan of the Roper St. Francis Foundation, 125 Doughty Street, Suite 790, Charleston, SC29403. Please sign the tribute wall for Mrs. Kemp at the obit section of www.stoudenmiredowling.com.