‘A Southern gentleman’: Congressman John Spratt’s York SC funeral set. How to watch
The funeral for former South Carolina congressman John Spratt is set for Wednesday in his hometown of York.
Spratt, 82, a Democrat who represented South Carolina’s 5th District for 28 years, died Saturday night from complications from Parkinson’s disease.
Services will be at 1 p.m. at First Presbyterian Church on Liberty Street in downtown York, Bratton Funeral Home announced.
The funeral will be livestreamed online Wednesday at the church’s website, www.fpcyorksc.org.
The Spratt family will receive friends Tuesday night from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the church.
Burial is Wednesday after services at Rose Hill Cemetery in York.
An Army veteran and Rhodes Scholar, Spratt served in Congress after his election in 1982 until Republican Mick Mulvaney defeated him in 2010. The 5th district covers all of York, Lancaster and Chester counties in South Carolina, plus other Upstate counties.
S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster said Spratt was a statesman who served with intellect and kindness. He ordered government flags around the state to be lowered to half-staff on Wednesday in honor of Spratt.
York Mayor Mike Fuesser said Tuesday flags in the city of York — the county seat of York County where Spratt grew up and lived — will also be at half-staff.
Tributes from Democrats and Republicans
Praise for Spratt’s career poured in Sunday from community members and both political allies and foes. Tributes came from President Joe Biden, who served in Congress with Spratt, and former President Bill Clinton.
Current 5th District Rep. Ralph Norman of Rock Hill was among the many Republicans who — despite party differences — praised Spratt’s service and work across the political aisle.
Norman, in the seat since 2017, lost to Spratt in a hotly contested 2006 race for the congressional seat. Yet Norman praised Spratt’s dedication to the people of the 5th district and his gracious political demeanor.
“I am sad to hear the news of John Spratt’s passing,” Norman said in a statement on social media. “He was a man who dedicated his life to public service and he set the gold standard for constituent service. He was the epitome of a southern gentleman. My prayers are with his family.”
Spratt is best known as the U.S. House Budget Committee chair who worked to pass the nation’s Balanced Budget Act in 1997. Spratt was also a high-ranking member of the Armed Services Committee who worked with officials of both parties in the Congress and White House on defense.
A Davidson College graduate who also served on the school’s trustee board, Spratt was the key negotiator in a deal with Catawba Indian Nation in York County in 1993 that ended years of land disputes.
