Gary Lee Messer

COLUMBIA—Funeral service for Gary Lee Messer, 66, of Columbia, will be held at 3:00 p.m. Thursday, March 19, 2015 at Riverland Hills Baptist Church, 201 Lake Murray Blvd., Irmo, SC 29063.Dr. Ed Carney, Dr. Tim Phillips and Reverend Wayne Cole will officiate.Burial will follow in Bush River Memorial Gardens, 5400 Bush River Road, Columbia, SC 29212. Honorary pallbearers will be the Fellowship Sunday School Class, Linda & Herb Matthews, and the Columbia Ballroom Company students and teachers.The family will greet friends from 6-8 p.m. Wednesday, March 18, 2015 at Temples-Halloran Funeral Home, 5400 Bush River Road, Columbia, SC 29212. Mr. Messer, beloved husband of Gayle Benson Messer, passed away on Monday, March 16, 2015.Born in Greenville, he was the son of the late Grady Lee Messer and Ruth Hodgens Messer. He attended North Greenville University and was a USC School of Pharmacy graduate.He worked for People’s Drugs and retired from Treasury Drugs.He was a member of Riverland Hills Baptist Church and loved being the Fellowship Sunday School Class “Social Director” and the Neighborhood Crime Watch Coordinator. His fishing tip was, “Everyone should go fishing, but relax for the first hour without catching anything.”He was a loving husband, father, brother and grandfather. Surviving in addition to his wife of 39 years, Gayle Benson Messer of Columbia; daughters, Aimee Messer Hall (Charles) of N. Augusta, SC and Ginette Messer Williams (Brad) of Augusta, GA; son, Dr. B. Garrick Messer (Jill) of Lexington; 11 grandchildren and one great-grandchild; brother, Ronald David Messer (Laura) of Seneca, SC; and his four-legged fur babies and grand dogs. Memorials may be made to the Special Olympics SC, 810 Dutch Square Blvd., Ste. 204, Columbia, SC 29210 or the American Diabetes Association, 107 Westpark Blvd., #220, Columbia, SC 29210 or North Greenville University, 7801 N. Tigerville Road, Tigerville, SC 29688.