Spring 2008 — Vol. 61, No. 2
Cemetery Chronicles
Ol’ Sweets
by Zack Fulmer ’96
Willie Cecil Godley,
1922-2007
I am Wack. I am married to Little One.
We lovingly refer to our kin as Tiger, Sweet Stuff, Shan-Tan, Hoss, Princess, Young ’Un, Ba, KK, Bloss, Lil’ Tiger and New Tiger just like my grandfather W. Cecil Godley did. Then of course, there is Bride, his beloved Alice.
G-Dad, or Ol’ Sweets, as we so affectionately knew him, was the patriarch of our tightly knit clan. Therefore he had naming rights, a job he approached like he did all others — with joy, enthusiasm, dignity and selflessness. Sometimes I think he felt like Adam, naming all the creatures and finding joy in that responsibility.
I suppose we are not unlike many families who have a representative buried in the sacred grounds of Cemetery Hill. We each grew to love Clemson because he first loved Clemson. Clemson is special, home to us largely because each time we visited, we spent time with G-Dad learning to give and serve as able, only to receive so much more. I smile each time I approach the Woodland Cemetery because I consider the many others whose lives, like mine, were significantly impacted by someone resting peacefully near G-Dad.
Although most called him Cecil or Dr. Godley, his full name was Willie Cecil Godley. Born in Miley to Peter Charles and Eugenia Barnes Godley, Cecil grew up in an era when Model-T Fords traveled sandy roads, a mill laborer’s wage was 75 cents per day, and doctors made house calls.
In seventh grade, Cecil met a young lady named Alice from neighboring Brunson whom he described as “easily the prettiest girl in the class.” Several years later, before he left for combat in Europe, he married his middle-school sweetheart and spent the remainder of his life by her side. When Cecil passed away in the fall of 2007, they had spent 63 years together. He would say it was his crowning achievement.
Of course, he had many other achievements of which he could boast, but never would, so I will. Amongst the most notable were three daughters and their husbands, seven grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.
Others he considered important were a B.S. in animal husbandry as a member of the Clemson Class of 1943; a Purple Heart awarded for service to his country in World War II; a Ph.D. from N.C. State College; 33 years of devoted service to Clemson University and the people of South Carolina, retiring as associate dean of the College of Agricultural Sciences and director of the S.C. Agricultural Experiment Station in 1986; the Godley-Snell research facility and the annual Godley-Snell Award for outstanding agricultural research; the Clemson Alumni Distinguished Service Award and Volunteer of the Year.
While G-Dad would not boast of his accolades, he would want me to tell you about Pete-Pete Jr., another grandson, whom we lost just months before we lost my grandfather. Pete-Pete Jr., known to others as Christopher Daniel Dunmyer, was a graduate of Clemson (2002) and the MUSC College of Pharmacy. Bright, handsome, articulate, warm and passionate, he was a newlywed in the process of building a new family and career when his life was cut short by an automobile accident.
As Cecil did with each member of his lineage, he shared a special bond with Pete-Pete Jr., forged over the years in many ways, not the least of which was a shared passion for Clemson athletics. It seems appropriate, then, that they are both resting together on Cemetery Hill — two more gifted and passionate members of the Clemson family.
Zack Fulmer ’96, grandson of Cecil Godley and author of this chronicle, is married to the former Kimberly Clark ’97. They live in Orlando with their three “little Tigers” — Cecilia, Luke and Jacob. Zack was a member of SAC as a student and has served on the Alumni National Council.
Cemetery Chronicles is a series on the honored inhabitants of Clemson’s Woodland Cemetery, better known as Cemetery Hill. For more information about the cemetery’s historical value, contact Matt Dunbar at tigeray@alumni.clemson.edu.
For more Cemetery Chronicles, visit the Web at www.clemson.edu/clemsonworld/chronicles/.
To support its preservation and research, you can make a gift online and designate it for the “Cemetery Hill Preservation Fund.”