Lewis "Del" Vereen, of Little River, SC, passed away in the early hours of March 7, 2017, after a long illness.

Del was born at home on October 26th, 1934, less than a mile away from the plot of land where he would later build his home and raise his family. His roots ran deep into the soil. He farmed the same land his whole life; from the soybean and tobacco fields in his youth to the neat rows of Evergreen trees he raised as a man. His grandchildren still remember the sweet, sappy smell of the Evergreen field many years later; nothing smelled more like Christmas than the gloves he wore while he pruned and felled those trees.

In 1952, Del found a job with the Ocean Drive Gas Company. It was his first job and only job, and he would hold it for over 50 years. The story goes that, days after coming home from two years of service in the Army, Del found his Gas Company boss waiting for him at his doorstep, asking him to come back to work. It wasn't just that Del took to hard work naturally, he was also someone on whom you could completely and unconditionally depend. If you knew him, you knew this.

And many did know him, because his roots ran deep in the community as well. Del was an active member of the Grand Strand Masonic Lodge for over 50 years. He served as Grandmaster in 1966, and perennially thereafter as the Lodge's Secretary. In his living room, directly across from his favorite chair, a plaque on the wall reads, "We proudly present to Worshipful Brother Del Vereen this plaque with our deepest appreciation for his dedicated years of service." It was presented on December 14th, 2009, and has not moved since that day.

To know Del was to love him. He was a proud husband of 42 years, a farmer, a musician, a bass-voiced singer of gospel songs, a mechanic, a hard worker, a chauffeur for a parade of grandchildren, but most of all a true and full-hearted Southern man, whose type may never know any equal. It is in this spirit that he is loved, remembered, and survived by his wife Lyda; his children Jeff, Ben, Rhett, Sheila, Faye, and Louise; his Grandchildren Brianna, Adam, Ashley, Michelle, Matt, Bryan, Rebecca, Ian, Cassie, and Brittney; and his Great-Grandchildren Bear, Michael, Olivia, and Sarah.

A service will be held at the Grand Strand Masonic Lodge (919 6thAve S, North Myrtle Beach, SC) Saturday April 1stat 2pm.