SOPHIE TORRENCE HUNTER

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COLUMBIA - Funeral services for Sophie Torrence Hunter, who died on Saturday, Aug. 28, 2021, will be held at 1 p.m. today at Leevy's Funeral Home, Taylor Street Chapel, with burial to follow at Hillside Memorial Park, Sumter.

Public viewing was held on Friday at the funeral home.

Born 92 years ago, on April 26, 1929, Sophie I. Hunter was the first child of William and Willie Bea (Austin) Torrence, of Jersey City, New Jersey. William "Papa" Torrence was a master builder who built several homes, a factory and helped to build New Light Baptist Church, the family's place of worship in Bloomfield, New Jersey.

Sophie attended public school in Bloomfield and was one of only three African Americans to graduate from Bloomfield High School in 1946. She was an active member of the Spanish and glee clubs. She then enrolled at Newark State Teacher's College, which is now Kean University, and graduated with a bachelor's degree in teacher education in 1950. Sophie's first teaching experience was at Maple Avenue School for the Deaf in Newark, New Jersey. She then taught third and fourth grades at Winfield Scott School 2 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, where she taught for more than 33 years. She was a member of the teacher's union and several professional organizations, to include the National Association of Negro Business and Professional Women's Club (NANBPWC). Sophie had a beautiful voice and sang with the senior choir at Union Baptist Church in Montclair, New Jersey. In the early 1990s, she retired with her husband to South Carolina and became a member of Brookland Baptist Church in West Columbia and a founding member of Brookland Baptist Church, Northeast in Columbia.

Sophie was preceded in death by her husband of 47 years, George Hunter, originally of Sumter, in 2010.

She leaves to cherish her memory: her three daughters, Sultana (Marcia) Koné and Audrey Jenderson, both of Bloomfield, and Hortense "Kymm" Hunter of Columbia; two grandsons, Adnan of Bloomfield and Ellis of Columbia; two sisters-in-law, Nora Palmer of Queens, New York, and Virginia Torrence of Bloomfield; a host of nieces, nephews and cousins.

She was preceded in death by her brothers, Benjamin Torrence and William Torrence, both of Bloomfield, and David Torrence of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and her sisters, Willa Mae Torrence and Azzilee Edding, both of Bloomfield.