W. "Dugan" Foster, Jr.

Colonel Walter Neal “Dugan” Foster, Jr., (USAF Ret.), husband of Elise Trapp Foster and son of Walter Neal Foster, Sr. and Kathryn English Foster, died August 1, 2018. He was the grandson of Charles Herman and Della Oden Foster and Raymond David and Maude Bosworth English, all proud Texans. A Celebration of Life Service will be held 3 o'clock, Sunday, August 5, 2018, in Smith Chapel of First Presbyterian Church, 1420 Washington Street, Columbia, SC. Shives Funeral Home, Trenholm Road Chapel, is assisting the family. Dugan was born in Houston, Texas, on December 12, 1938. Until high school he attended many different schools as his father was transferred frequently by the U. S. Navy. He attended Moultrie High School in Mt. Pleasant, SC, and graduated from Furman University in 1962 where he was a member of Kappa Alpha Order. He received a commission as a Second Lieutenant in the U. S. Army and served on active duty for six years, the last year as an Advisor to the military in South Vietnam where he was awarded the Bronze Star. As a civilian, he joined the Southern Bell family in Columbia, and also the McEntire Air National Guard as a traditional guardsman. Following retirement from BellSouth and the Air Guard where he served as Vice Commander, he worked for the state department of Emergency Preparations until 1997 when he accepted an offer from a cellphone startup company located in Bucharest, Romania. More recently he has been very active on the family farm near Eastover where he grew and sold hay and Christmas trees and where their son and his wife raised his precious grandchildren. Dugan and Elise were married in 1960 and raised two sons, Neal English Foster and Mark Howell Foster. Dugan’s military service and his career with BellSouth moved the family from Okinawa to Colorado to New Jersey to Columbia to New York then Charleston, Atlanta, and finally back to Columbia in 1989. Dugan enjoyed planning and participating in frequent travels to Europe, and he took advantage of being in Romania to visit Istanbul, Cairo, and Budapest. Dugan enjoyed participating in all sports, but golf was his favorite. As a “leftie” he was always challenged by the right-handed courses but frequently brought them to their knees. He was always a diehard Furman Football fan and held season tickets for many decades. He was a good bridge player, a frequent champion in the Atlanta Lawn Tennis Association (ALTA), and enjoyed snow skiing with his family and running in the Peachtree Road Race. In 1993 he was chosen Furman University Volunteer of the Year by the Athletic Department. He was a member of Richland Sertoma in Columbia and the Rotary Club in Charleston. He was a deacon at Forest Lake Presbyterian Church and was a member of First Presbyterian where he attended the John Knox Sunday School Class. Dugan is survived by his wife, his son Mark and his wife Tina, his grandchildren Sara Louise, David Howell, Rebecca Louise, and John Howell. He is also survived by his sister Shirley Wrixon of Awendaw and his sister Charlotte Smith and her husband Alex in Gonzales, Texas, and his goddaughters Alexandra M. Tudor of Basel, Switzerland, and Elena Diana Frick of Winnsboro. He was predeceased by his parents, his grandparents, and his son Neal. In lieu of flowers or memorials, Dugan has requested that you honor his memory by supporting the Fort Jackson Golf Club Junior Golf Program, Building 3652, Chesnut Road, Fort Jackson, SC 29207 or the Video Streaming Ministry of First Presbyterian Church, 1324 Marion Street, Columbia, SC 29201.

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W. "Dugan" Foster, Jr.

December 12, 1938 - August 1, 2018