Robert Ensley Feemster

R. Ensley Feemster, Sr. was born in Lancaster, South Carolina in 1941. He is the son of the late Woodrow Wilson Feemster, Sr. and Mary Grace Carter Feemster. He is married to Dorothy Goley Feemster. They have one living son, Robert Ensley Feemster, Jr., who is a maintenance technician at YMCA Camp Harrison near Boomer, North Carolina. The Feemsters have lived in Clemson since their marriage in 1965.

Mr. Feemster grew up near McConnells, SC, a village between York and Chester South Carolina where he attended public schools, graduating from York High School in 1960. He then attended Clemson College for three years while working as a TV service technician. In 1967, he opened his own TV shop and operated it until 1982. Meanwhile, in 1968, he began teaching part time at Tri-County Technical College. By 1973 he was teaching full time. With the advent of the personal computer he moved to the information Technology department of Tri-County Technical College where he did computer networking and maintenance until he retired in 2006.

Mr. Feemster’s military career began as a private, E3, in 1966. He graduated from Palmetto Military Academy where he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the SC Army National Guard In 1968. Mr. Feemster served continuously until his retirement from the Army National Guard in 1988 with the rank of Major. His military career included a variety of staff and command assignments at the battery, battalion, and higher echelon. In 1980 his thesis for the Army Command and General Staff College described how personal computers could be used to estimate down-wind fallout from a nuclear blast.

Mr. Feemster has been active in the community through the years having served as treasurer of Pickens County Republican Party and Family Promise of Pickens County. He served as a member of Clemson City Council from 1985 until 1992. He also served on the City of Clemson Planning Commission from 2012 until 2014. He was elected to Pickens County Council in 2014 where he continues to serve.

He and his wife are charter members of Clemson Presbyterian Church where he serves as a deacon. He is active in South Carolina Lions Clubs and Toastmasters International. Mr. Feemster also enjoys visiting grandchildren with his wife, Dorothy, and watching Clemson football. One of his hobbies is experimenting with applications for the Linux computer operating system.