Allendale County remembers Robert Hampton McMillan Sr., family, service and faith

Robert Hampton McMillan Sr., known to family as Bob and Nu-Nu, died June 27 at age 98, closing a life that linked Ulmer farm country, South Carolina political history, military service and a long faith life at Swallow Savannah Methodist Church. He and his wife, Elizabeth Mae “Betty” Thompson McMillan, had made their home in the family farmhouse in Ulmer, where his death removes one more living connection to the older civic and rural history of Allendale County.

McMillan was born April 12, 1928, in Tacoma Park, Maryland, the youngest of five sons of U.S. Rep. Thomas S. McMillan and Clara Gooding McMillan. His father was born in Ulmer and served in the U.S. House of Representatives, placing the family squarely in the public life of South Carolina and into the county story McMillan later returned to as an adult. The University of South Carolina Libraries preserves Thomas S. and Clara G. McMillan papers that document the family’s public and private life across decades.

McMillan spent part of his youth in Charleston, where he played baseball at Hampton Park and spent time on Sullivan’s Island with his brothers. He attended The Citadel and George Washington University before enlisting in the Air Force in 1951. He served in Air Defense Command, then went to work at the Savannah River Plant as a Health Physics Inspector, a role tied to the site’s early emphasis on health protection work at the federal nuclear complex that later became the Savannah River Site.

The personal details of McMillan’s life carried as much weight as his résumé. He was married to Betty for 73 years, and she died before him. He was also predeceased by a beloved grandson, Chuck Peurifoy. McMillan is survived by four children, grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren, the family network now holding the memory of a man remembered for a gentle smile, humor, puns and corny jokes.

Faith remained central to that memory. McMillan worshiped at Swallow Savannah Methodist Church, which was first organized around 1815, and the church established Swallow Savannah Cemetery. He sang in the choir, played hymns at home and loved bluegrass music. In a county where church, land and family lines still mark belonging, McMillan’s death leaves behind a direct link to the McMillans of Ulmer, the old Swallow Savannah community and the generation that moved between farm, service and public life.