Mr. Harry Oscar Bodiford

August 28, 1923 - October 18, 2016

Harry Oscar Bodiford, Jr. died Tuesday, October 18, 2016. Son of Harry Oscar Bodiford and Francis Shelton Bodiford he was born at Clemson College, South Carolina on August 28, 1923.He was a graduate of Clemson-Calhoun High School and attended Clemson College. He joined the United States Marine Corps in 1943 and was in the third wave of the invasion of Okinawa on April 1, 1945. He served in the occupation of Peking (Beijing) China until his discharge from the Marines in late 1946. Upon his return to Clemson he helped organize Battery C of the 263rd Air Defense Artillery Brigade of the South Carolina National Guard. He was sworn in as the first enlisted man of Battery C by Captain George Dunkleburg in 1947. He retired from the SCNG in 1985 as Command Sergeant Major, the highest ranking enlisted man in the SCNG. He was retired from J.P. Stevens Co. in 1988. He was married to the late Evelyn Abbott Bodiford and is survived by three children: Mary Abbott Hecko of Walhalla, S.C. and husband Sam, John Bodiford of Walhalla, S.C. and wife Kim, and Harry E. Bodiford of Clemson, S.C., and four grandchildren: Amy Barret, Matthew Hecko, Keegan and Logan Bodiford. He was also married a second time to the late Edna Sanders Bodiford. A graveside memorial will be held at Oconee Memorial Park at 11:00 am Saturday, October 22. In lieu of flowers memorials may be sent to the Marine Corps League, Lewis G. Watkins Detachment in Seneca, S.C.