Lander University lost one of its most time-honored alumni on Dec. 5 when Margaret Lander Scheibler died peacefully at the Renaissance retirement center in Due West.
Scheibler, originally from Calhoun Falls, S.C., was 104.
"She was the last grandchild of the university founder, Rev. Samuel Lander," said Dr. DeWitt Stone Jr., a member of the university's Board of Trustees, and Lander's great-grandson. "We'll all miss her."
Scheibler is survived by two nephews, U.S. Army Col. Robert Lander and former state senator James Lander; and two nieces, Caroline Lander and Elizabeth Purcell.
Purcell said that per her aunt's wishes, Scheibler will be cremated. Cremation arrangements will be handled by The Cremation Society of South Carolina.
"We will have a graveside memorial for her sometime between now and New Year's Day," Purcell said.
Instead of flowers, Purcell requested memorial contributions be made to The Lander Foundation for the Margaret Lander Scheibler Scholarship - an endowment that was established on May 11, 2016, in honor of Scheibler's 104th birthday to provide assistance for qualified students studying exercise science.
Memorial contributions can be mailed to the Lander Foundation, 320 Stanley Ave., Campus Box Office 6004, Greenwood, SC, 29649. Checks should be earmarked for Margaret Scheibler Scholarship.
"People can also donate online at www.go.lander.edu/scheiblerscholarship," said Myra Greene, Lander's director of Alumni Affairs and Annual Giving.
Lander's Broadcast and Emerging Media Specialist and Adjunct Faculty member, Paul Crutcher, who produced a video documentary on Samuel Lander in 2009, said he would always remember Scheibler's "youthful energy."
"When I talked to her for the documentary about her grandfather, she was still driving back and forth from her home to Greenwood to get her hair done," he said.