Private investigator, 65, dies after crash on Dave Lyle Blvd

By Matt Garfield - The Herald

Ed Fewell, a life-long Rock Hill resident and member of a prominent local family, died Thursday in a car wreck on Dave Lyle Boulevard.

Fewell, 65, worked as a private investigator, helping clients with process service, domestic surveillance and similar detective jobs. His firm served more than 5,000 court papers a year.

Most mornings, Fewell could be found at the Ebenezer Grill, where he was a regular with the breakfast crowd. Fewell also was active at Oakland Avenue Presbyterian Church and in the Elks Lodge.

"Ed knew everybody in town," said local attorney Thomas F. McDow. "Every lawyer in town used his services to some extent."

People who worked with Fewell called him "Hound Dog" for his detective instincts, said lawyer Jim Morton.

Fewell was always quick with a funny story or joke, Morton said, and he'd always be smiling when he told it.

"He was a character," Morton said. "He was smart, very good at what he did. A lot of people knew him in this town."

Fewell spent almost four decades as a member of the Rock Hill Elks Lodge, said Dickie Brackett of Rock Hill, the president of the S.C. Elks Association.

Much of the last 20 years, he was a key member in the civic group's push to raise and donate money and help others in the community.

Right before Christmas, Fewell was instrumental in raising and donating $7,000 to seven York County charities � and that was just the most recent of Fewell's fundraising endeavors.

"It is hard to find the words right now to describe how Ed will be missed in this community," Brackett said. "Ed had a heart as big as the sky.

"Any time there were contributions to be made, Ed was first in line to give."

The collision happened around 2:30 p.m. on Dave Lyle Boulevard at the Mount Gallant Road intersection, one of Rock Hill's main thoroughfares.

Fewell was driving toward downtown on Dave Lyle when his car slammed into the side of the truck, police said. The driver's identity was confirmed by York County Coroner Sabrina Gast.

Three witnesses told police the driver of the car drove through a red traffic light before colliding with the semi, said Rock Hill police Lt. Brad Redfearn.

"We're still conducting our own investigation," Redfearn said. Police hope to learn whether speed and weather could have contributed to the crash.

Fewell was taken to Piedmont Medical Center, Gast said, where he was pronounced dead. No one else was hurt.

Fewell opened his own firm, Fewell & Associates, 20 years ago. He attended Erskine College and graduated from the S.C. Criminal Justice Academy as well as the Federal Law Enforcement Training program at Glenco, Ga., according to a firm history.

The Fewell family has deep roots in Rock Hill. The family ran an old cotton warehouse that today stands as a remnant of the early days of the textile industry.

The warehouse was built in 1894 as part of the Cotton Factory complex, which housed the city's first-steam powered textile mill.

Heraldonline.com Editor Shannon Greene contributed.