Rock Hill’s Larry Bigham was ‘model for the rest of us’

Longtime Rock Hill businessman and Republican Party activist Larry Bigham died Wednesday after a yearlong battle with cancer. He was 65.

The Chester native was the owner of the restaurant Thursdays Too, in the Village Square shopping center on Herlong Avenue in Rock Hill, before it closed. He was a member of the Rock Hill school board and twice ran for Congress, though he lost both times to incumbent Democrat John Spratt, in 1994 and 1996.

“He and I ran a hard race for Congress,” Spratt said Wednesday. “And we came out of it with increased respect for each other.”

Spratt, a Democrat from York, said he had a telephone conversation with Bigham during his illness.

“To the very end,” Spratt said, “he maintained his spirit and courage and was a model for the rest of us. It was like a tonic talking to him. Despite his condition, despite his prospects, he was upbeat.

“We shared philosophies of life and agreed that death is a part of living.”

U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., issued a statement expressing his “great sadness” at Bigham’s passing.

“Larry was a great husband, father, friend, businessman and loyal Republican,” Graham said. “When facing difficult challenges, he fought the good fight. Larry will be missed by all those who had the great pleasure to know him.”

State Rep. Gary Simrill, R-Rock Hill, remembers Bigham and his wife, Kathy Bigham, stepping up to support him when he first ran for the S.C. House in 1992.

“Nobody knew who I was, and Larry and Kathy took a chance on me,” Simrill said. “I was 24, 25 years old, so the impact on me was huge. We’ve been friends for 25 years.”

Simrill said that support was characteristic of Bigham, who was always generous with time and money for a wide network of friends and others in the community.

“But he would never talk about it,” Simrill said. “Larry was a public persona, but a private person.”

On Wednesday, at Simrill’s request, the S.C. House formally adjourned in Bigham’s memory.

Rock Hill City Councilman Kevin Sutton remembers traveling across the Fifth Congressional District during Bigham’s first run against Spratt.

“A lot of Republicans now don’t realize the contributions he made to the party,” Sutton said. “When he first ran, we could hold a Republican party meeting in a phone booth. We didn’t have countywide elected officials or a majority on County Council.

“He helped turn the tide. He even let us use the private room at Thursdays for meetings.”

Sutton recalls the restaurant, which the Bighams ran for 27 years, as a gathering place. He was such a regular that Bigham would occasionally cook items off the menu for him.

“When it closed, I no longer saw a lot of my friends because we all just used to hang out at Thursdays,” he said.

In his later years, Bigham did unpaid work with the City Club on Rock Hill’s Main Street, because he wanted to see thriving businesses downtown.

“Larry was one of the few people successful in business who was willing to put his own name on the line,” said State Rep. Ralph Norman, R-Rock Hill, and a York County developer. “In business, politics and on a personal level, you don’t see many people like him anymore.”

Kathy Bigham is chairwoman of the Winthrop University Board of Trustees, where she’s been a trustee since 2003.

Winthrop President Dan Mahony said in an email to university faculty and staff Wednesday morning: “While I didn’t have the opportunity to spend as much time with Larry as I would have liked, the time I did spend with him was always enjoyable. He was always positive and upbeat, even during this past year.

“I always walked away from every conversation with Larry feeling happier and more optimistic.”

After graduating from Chester High in 1968 and The Citadel in 1972, Bigham worked as a commodities broker in Charlotte before starting his own company, Carolina Brokerage Co., with a partner in Rock Hill. In 1982, the Bighams opened Thursdays Too and operated it until selling in 2009.

Bigham was first elected to the Rock Hill school board in 1982 and was a member 10 years. He also had been a member of the Rock Hill Economic Development Board, the Rock Hill Country Club Board, and various other boards and commissions.

He was a member of Oakland Baptist Church, where he was a deacon.

Joe Gentry was Rock Hill schools superintendent while Bigham was part of the school board. He described Bigham as a man of principle, unafraid to stand up for what he believed.

“He had the courage to say what he needed to say to school personnel and the community,” Gentry said. “He would make hard decisions, and unpopular decisions, if it were for the good of the school district.

“He had courage, he had convictions, he had high expectations. He cared about the children, he cared about teachers and he wanted what was best.”

This story was originally published June 1, 2016 at 10:55 AM with the headline "Rock Hill’s Larry Bigham was ‘model for the rest of us’."