3 4
| S C T E CHN I CA L CO L L E G E S Y S T EM ’ S
F I R S T 5 0 Y EAR S
BLUE DAYS
By the time 1970 arrived, fifteen Technical Education Cen-
ters (TECs) positioned the state’s technical training system for
another decade of growth. The stars were aligning. Centers had
secured land, erected buildings, and acquired funds for equip-
ment. Faculty and leadership were in place, and the system
sought influence in the General Assembly. South Carolina was
making waves. Industries beyond the region heard the siren’s call
and came to South Carolina, and Hollings’ dreamwas beautifully
materializing.
And then on October 21, 1970, disaster struck.
State board chairman Stan Smith was in Miami, Florida, on
business when he got a phone call. Fifty-year-old state tech direc-
tor Wade Martin had died.
“I just couldn’t believe it,” said Smith, who caught the first
plane back to Columbia. Smith went to Martin’s house and
learned he had had a seven-hour heart attack on his den couch.
An incredulous Smith pleaded with Martin’s wife.
The 1970s
A M O D E L F O R T H E N A T I O N E M E R G E S
Pictured from left to right
–
Dr. Lex Walters,
President of Piedmont Technical College (
1968–2008
)
and Dr. Barry Russell
as Admissions Counselor/Field Representative at Piedmont Technical College
“Mary, why didn’t you call an ambulance? Why didn’t you call
a doctor?”
“Wade told me not to,” she replied.
“If Wade said don’t do it, nothing happened,” said Smith.
Martin and Smith often traveled together, and they respected
each other. Martin always responded to Smith’s tough questions.
“Wade smoked a pipe,” said Smith. “He’d put that finger in the
hot coals until it was callused. After we’d been riding down the
highway thirty minutes, he’d say, ‘Stan, we can handle that.’”
State Development Board Chairman T. Allen Legare Jr. said,
“We at the State Development Board have lost our closest ally,
and many of us have lost a close friend, but it is the poor people
who have lost a champion.”
“No North Carolinian ever did more for South Carolina,” stat-
ed a
State
newspaper editorial of October 24, 1970. Of Martin,
State Development Board Director J. Bonner Manly said, “Nine
years and one month ago, A. Wade Martin came to South Caro-
lina. It was, in my judgment, one of the most significant days in
the recent history of this state. As a great man, he will never be
missed because of the continuing presence of his creation—TEC.”
“Lex was probably 28
or 29 when he became
president at Piedmont
Tech, and I worked
with him and Dr. Jim
Hudgins, so I got to
know some of the real
leadership in the state.”
—Dr. Barry Russell
