Anne Springs Close, philanthropist, greenway founder and Fort Mill benefactor, dies
Anne Springs Close, the matriarch of the Springs family in South Carolina that was powerful in politics, philanthropy and the community for decades, has died. She was 95.
Close died at home on Friday, and succumbed to injuries a couple days after she was hurt by a falling tree limb on her family property in Fort Mill, according to a statement from the Anne Springs Close Greenway that is named in her honor.
Close was part of historic endeavors involving nature and the outdoors. She also was involved in conservation from the Upstate to the coast.
She ran in the New York marathon, climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in her 80s and shared her love of the outdoors with others. She also was an Olympic Torch runner in 1996. And Close was the last living person to have flown across the Atlantic Ocean aboard the German airship Hindenburg, the greenway noted in its statement.
“Anne Springs Close returned to her home of 72 years yesterday afternoon and died peacefully in her sleep surrounded by her family,” the statement from the greenway said. “The family would like to thank the community that loved her so much for their prayers and support during this difficult time.”
York County Council Chairwoman Christi Cox called Close a pioneer in conservancy.
“York County mourns the loss of one of our greatest leaders and visionaries,” Cox said. “Anne Springs Close’s love of nature and community was palpable, and her pioneering efforts to preserve and protect our precious resources for future generations to enjoy is a legacy that will never be forgotten.”
Close and her greenway
Close was a community benefactor with a penchant for the outdoors throughout her life. The Anne Springs Close Greenway opened in 1995.
The greenway covers 2,100 acres in northern York County and is used for recreation and outdoor activities. It has more than 40 miles of trails, waterways and natural habitats for plants and animals.
In 2014, Close said the greenway went from an idea to preserve trees and green spaces into something that became a nature phenomenon that attracted people from diverse backgrounds.
“We only set out to save a few trees, but we are delighted the greenway has become so popular that we’re adding programs and making improvements that will move us to a new level,” Close said. “More and more, it seems people understand and appreciate the healing powers of being outside and active.”
The greenway, which hosts events and Earth Day festivities and has historic buildings, has more than 8,000 contributing members.
Caring for her community
South Carolina state Rep. Gary Simrill, R-Rock Hill and majority leader for the state Senate, said Close’s generosity with the greenway will continue for generations of people from all over the Carolinas.
Close did not just talk about conservation and preservation for the public’s benefit, but dedicated her life to it, said Simrill, a York County native.
“Anne Springs Close lived her commitment to this community by ensuring a better life for many generations to come through her steadfast and generous support of preservation,” Simrill said. “She left this world a much better place than she found it.”
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the Close family placed 2,100 acres of family-owned land in a conservancy that became the Greenway. They kept about 4,000 acres for development for residential and retail use as Fort Mill continued to grow as a suburb of Charlotte.
The Baxter and Kingsley areas along S.C. 160, close to Interstate 77, with thousands of residents and large commercial and retail business areas, were built from those properties.
Late in her life, Close said she was proud to make sure the green areas were kept intact before the commercial and residential projects were built around it.
Textile and political ties
The Springs and Close families had textile mills in York, Chester and Lancaster counties for decades.
Textile mills in Fort Mill, Chester, Rock Hill and Lancaster flourished with tens of thousands of local people employed in the mills until around the 1990s, when textile mills across the South began to close because of cheaper materials, production costs and labor in foreign countries.
By the 2000s, the plants were closed but the family company, Leroy Springs & Co., kept its headquarters in Fort Mill.
The Fort Mill-based nonprofit Leroy Springs & Co. has more than 300 employees. It operates the Anne Springs Close Greenway, FLYERS afterschool program in area schools, the 400-acre Springmaid Mountain retreat and four golf courses in Fort Mill, Lancaster and Chester.
Close’s oldest daughter, Crandall Close Bowles, was a classmate of Hillary Rodham Clinton at Wellesley College and married Erskine Bowles, who was chief of staff for Bill Clinton.
One of Close’s sons, Elliott Close, ran an unsuccessful campaign for U.S. Senate as a Democrat in 1996 against incumbent Republican Strom Thurmond.
Extensive philanthropy
Close’s philanthropy extended throughout York County and South Carolina.
The non-profit Springs Close Foundation has given away more than $100 million in grants and other donations over the decades.
That giving was focused on York, Chester, and Lancaster counties where the Springs company had its textile plants. Close said her father before her, and she, wanted to give back to the employees and their families who had worked in the mills.
“Giving back to these communities is a value that we hold dear,” Close said in a 2012 interview.
Close was the daughter of the late World War I flying ace Elliott White Springs and Frances Ley Springs.
Close said her father “felt very strongly that the money made came from the efforts of the people who worked in the mills and that it should go back to them. The legacy of giving is a great testament to the kind of man my father was, and I know he would be proud that our family continues this work.”
She and her family started scholarships at Winthrop University in Rock Hill for students who wanted to give service to others. She was a former trustee at Wofford and was a benefactor and advocate for York Technical College in Rock Hill.
Winthrop University interim President George Hynd said that Close’s loss impacts the school, community, state and country.
Recalling the scholarship program she and her family established decades ago, Hynd said, “We know her legacy will continue here at Winthrop and through each student that was touched by her generosity and kindness.”
’Bringing people together’
South Carolina state Rep. Raye Felder, R-Fort Mill, said Close spent decades working with school officials to make sure children in York County had access to quality education, recreation and other opportunities.
Close was able to work with local and state schools, governments and people to create those opportunities, Felder said.
“Anne Springs Close had a unique way, a special way, of bringing people together in a common cause that benefited all,” Felder said. “She was a believer in public education, of how all children could succeed.”
South Carolina State Rep. John King, D-Rock Hill and the sole Black member of the York County legislative delegation, said Close was an advocate for equality, inclusion and the equitable treatment of all people.
Close and the greenway publicly supported the Black Lives Matter movement during national conversations about race in 2020, King said.
King said Close and her family’s business and interests were crucial in jobs and opportunities for people of all races and social classes in York, Chester and Lancaster counties. He called her death a sad day for York County, South Carolina and the country.
“I have seen her work not only as a philanthropist, but as an organizer for the Black Lives Matter movement who held up signs supporting the movement,” King said in a telephone interview from Washington, D.C. “Anne Springs Close will truly be missed, not only by her family, but by the many lives she touched and will continue to touch long after her death.”
York County Council member William “Bump” Roddey, the only Black member on the council, said Close cared for all people. Her small stature was never confused with her “commanding” presence that made lives better for all people, Roddey said.
‘A remarkable woman’
Close’s generosity extended throughout York County in the interest of serving all people, said Felder, King and others.
York County Sheriff Kevin Tolson said Close leaves a tremendous legacy of service. State Sen. Michael Johnson, R-Fort Mill, who knew Close and her family for decades, said Close cared deeply for all the people of her community and state.
“Anne Close was a remarkable woman,” Johnson said. “Smart, quick-witted and someone who cared about her community. This leaves a huge hole in the Fort Mill community.”
Memorial plans
Close was preceded in death by her husband, Bill Close, her brother Sonny Springs, and her daughter Monnie McKee Reed, according to the greenway’s statement. Survivors include eight children, 28 grandchildren and two dozen great-grandchildren.
A memorial service will be held at the Comporium Amphitheater on the Anne Springs Close Greenway Sunday at 2 p.m. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that memorial gifts be made to the Anne Springs Close Greenway.
This story was originally published August 20, 2021 at 8:00 AM.
