Allendale ties remembered in obituary for Navy veteran Michael Hotchkiss

Michael William Hotchkiss left behind more than a death notice for Murrells Inlet. For Allendale County readers, his obituary ties a Navy veteran’s final honors to a family line that still runs through the county through his mother, Beatrice Lee Hotchkiss.

Hotchkiss died Wednesday, May 13, 2026, at his residence in Murrells Inlet. He was 67. Born Dec. 24, 1958, in Varnville, he spent his working life around industrial equipment, retired from Pontiac Foods after many years as an industrial mechanic, and was remembered by family as a man who loved golf, music and tracking the weather. He also proudly served in the United States Navy.

The Allendale connection comes through his mother, Beatrice Lee Hotchkiss, who was living in Allendale when the obituary was prepared. Beatrice Lee’s own obituary says she died July 11, 2016, as a resident of Allendale, underscoring how the family’s ties to the county stretched across generations even as Michael Hotchkiss lived in Murrells Inlet near the coast.

His immediate family included his wife, Eleanor Little Hotchkiss, of Murrells Inlet; his son, Matthew Hotchkiss, and daughter-in-law, Crystal Hotchkiss, of Sumter; and his sister, Donna Moore, and brother-in-law, Rusty Moore, of Sumter. He also left grandchildren Zoey and Rylee, along with a stepson, a stepdaughter, and several sisters-in-law, aunts, uncles, nieces and nephews. He was predeceased by his father, Walter Hotchkiss, his first wife, Loretta Templeton Hotchkiss, and his brother, Chris Hotchkiss.

Funeral arrangements were handled by Burroughs Funeral Home and Cremation Services of Murrells Inlet. Family received friends before the service at Gathering Community Church in Myrtle Beach, and burial with military honors was set for 2 p.m. Wednesday, May 20, at Fort Jackson National Cemetery, 4170 Percival Rd, Columbia, SC 29229. Memorial donations were requested to Gathering Community Church, PO 30117, Myrtle Beach, SC 29588.

The choice of Fort Jackson National Cemetery carries added weight for a veteran. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs describes the Richland County site as a 585-acre national cemetery built to serve veterans’ needs well into the next century, making it a fitting final resting place for a Navy serviceman whose roots still reached back to Allendale.