Serving Barnwell County and it's neighbors since 1852

Judge Peeples remembered for lifetime of public service, generosity

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The most influential people on children's lives are their parents, their closest childhood friends, and their teachers. That was certainly true for me, but there was also one person who doesn't fall into those categories, yet helped shape my interests and lifestyle as much as those mentioned.

My family moved from Barnwell city limits, beside Lake Edgar Brown, out to Sweetwater Country Club when I was six years old. Among our closest neighbors were Judge Rodney Peeples and his family. We were all friends prior to that anyway, as evidenced by the Peeples' younger daughter, Katie, being at all of my birthday parties from age one onwards, but becoming neighbors certainly deepened the bond. Mrs. Claudia Peeples and my mom became daily jogging partners. Judge Peeples and my dad, who are one month apart in age, became frequent fishing and hunting buddies.

The Peeples were always exceptionally generous and welcoming, which led to their home becoming a central point of activity for all the youngsters in the neighborhood. I would routinely end up at their house with kids from basically any other house within walking distance to shoot basketball in their driveway, play Pac Man in their garage, play foosball in their loft, or jump on the trampoline in their backyard.

Once, I took some of my visiting yankee cousins with me to jump on the Peeples' trampoline on a hot summer day. My cousins were nervous about being there without being invited, and I may or may not have added to that anxiety by explaining that the owner was a judge who owned guns. Eventually, the Judge walked out towards us, not saying anything as he approached, with his hands behind his back. My cousins were terrified. Judge Peeples pulled out two fists full of Popsicles and said, "You kids have been jumping hard in this heat, and I thought you deserve a break and a treat."

He was generous towards all, but he had a real soft spot for children. Having grown up under difficult conditions in Hampton, particularly after losing his father when young Rodney was only five years old, he learned the importance and value of hard work, determination, and independence. Those traits led him to business and law degrees from Carolina and immensely successful, highly respected careers as an attorney and a South Carolina Circuit Court Judge. Those accomplishments sum up his passions for his university and for serving others.

That combined love of USC and children led to much of his impact on me. Each year in the 70s and early 80s, Judge Peeples would organize a field trip to Columbia for local children to attend a USC basketball doubleheader with a women's and a men's game. He and a few of his friends (I specifically remember Walter and Mary Bedingfield and Carolyn Sailors) would drive vans full of kids from Barnwell to the Carolina Coliseum. Judge would take us into the locker room to meet coaches and sometimes players. Then right before game time, he'd give each of us a $2 bill (yes, there used to be such a thing) that we were supposed to use for concessions and souvenirs (yes, you could buy all that for $2 in 1978). I never used mine. To me, a $2 bill from Judge Peeples was a better souvenir than anything I could have bought.

As nearly everyone who knows me is aware, I have shared that same love of Gamecocks athletics ever since, and Judge Peeples was extremely happy about that. He continued giving me tickets for basketball and football games through all these years, even though I've usually had my own season tickets, because he wanted me to be able to take more family members and let them all experience the same joys that he and I knew. I've done my best for my entire adult life thus far to do just that. He used to tell me literally every single time I visited him, "Thank God you're a Gamecock!"

Another passion of mine that is at least as great as that for USC is professional golf, especially the Masters and Heritage. I barely understood what either was until I was 12 years old. In April 1983, the Sunday round of the Masters was rained out, forcing a Monday final round. Judge was unable to go due to work obligations, so he gave his final round badges to my mom for her to take me. She showed up at my 7th grade 2nd period English classroom and withdrew me from school to take me to Augusta National. I'll never forget the sensory overload I felt when I saw the #1 fairway for the first time. Then a year later, he gave Heritage Classic badges for me, my parents, and my sister at Harbour Town Golf Links. He continued giving Heritage badges every year until I was college age. To this day, I've only missed two Heritage Tournaments since 1984. I've missed a few more Masters than that, but I've been to a lot, and both events are going to be even more sentimental for me from now on.

Judge Rodney Peeples passed away Thursday, October 24.

My family and I loved him dearly, just as we loved Miss Claudia, who passed several years ago. Their daughters, Janie and Katie, are like my sisters. I did a terrible job of staying in touch with them over the years, but I'm going to do better now.

May God reward Judge Peeples for a lifetime of public service and generosity. There's no way for us to know or measure how much impact he's had on countless people in South Carolina for at least 60 years, but God knows. Inna lillahi, wa inna ilayhi, rajioon (translated: "Surely to Allah we belong and to Him we will all return").

Owais Khan shared this photo of his children with Judge Rodney Peeples on his birthday many years ago.
Owais Khan shared this photo of his children with Judge Rodney Peeples on his birthday many years ago.
The picture shows Judge Peeples with my children on his birthday many years ago. I always referred to him as their Grandjudge. He loved his own two grandchildren tremendously, but since they lived out of Barnwell, I used to insist he think of these babies as his backup grandchildren, and he did. He did his best to spoil my children with candy, money, and Gamecock stuff, just like any proper grandparent would.

Owais Khan at the Oct. 28, 2024 women's basketball game at USC Columbia. Judge Rodney Peeples could often be seen at games.
Owais Khan at the Oct. 28, 2024 women's basketball game at USC Columbia. Judge Rodney Peeples could often be seen at games.
While Judge Peeples loved all things USC, his deepest feelings were towards the women's basketball program. He was so proud of what Dawn Staley has accomplished, and he deserved the opportunity to enjoy his favorite team finally becoming the best team in the country, but he loved the program since its beginning, 50 years ago, when Carolina first established women's basketball. As I mentioned earlier, he didn't only take people to watch men's basketball, as most would have done all those years. He made sure everyone got to watch women's basketball too, at a time when very few people cared about that. That's really beautiful if you think about it. To me, it signifies a true love for the wonderful women in his life as much as anything else.

Since the Oct. 28 game was the first USC women's basketball game ever held without their biggest fan, Judge Rodney Peeples, on this earth, I felt that he should be represented. I was in Charleston for work, but I decided to go from there to Columbia for the game. I didn't use his seats for the game itself since there were other people there, but afterwards, maybe 30 minutes after the alma mater was sung and the stands were empty, I went over to the section where Judge would've been sitting all season, and I just took it all in for a minute.