Rock Hill residents remember civil rights activist, say time to ‘pick up the mantle’

More than 200 people gathered Saturday morning in Rock Hill to remember the life of Brother David Boone, one of the city’s most influential civil rights activists.

Boone died Nov. 5 at age 84 after a long fight with cancer.

“Brother David was a unique individual,” said Willie T. “Dub” Massey, a member of the Friendship Nine protesters. “You could not imagine what he would do just to make us happy as we were children living in this area. He would always try to do something to empower us.”

Boone was the only white adviser of the Friendship Nine civil rights protesters. His name is on one of the stools at the lunch counter where the protesters were arrested in 1961.

“He was brave ... he was the most hated man in town,” said David Williamson Jr., another member of the Friendship Nine. “But you’d never know it by looking at him or talking to him, because he never expressed fear or nothing like that. He was always there. He was always there, anytime we needed something.”

Boone’s niece, Denise Olson, remembered her uncle as a hilarious, “always teasing” man, who liked the “simple things in life,” like big Sunday dinners and homegrown tomatoes.

The Rev. John Giuliani said Brother David’s life was an example to others.

“People could be very mean but he was not intimidated,” Giuliani said during the service at St. Mary Catholic Church. “He wasn’t afraid, and I think that’s what Jesus told all of us: not to be afraid. To have faith, and David had that faith. And it motivated everything that he did.”

In his last interview with The Herald before his death, Boone said: “I have no regrets, not one, except this: I wish I could have done more.”

Williamson said it’s time for the next generation to take on Boone’s work.

“Really going to miss him because he did so much,” Williamson said. “He thought he didn't do enough.

“So it’s our job to pick up the mantle and continue what he started and what he did."

This story was originally published November 18, 2017 at 4:27 PM with the headline "Rock Hill residents remember civil rights activist, say time to ‘pick up the mantle’."