A Clinton firefighter, the late Hunter Sipes, was honored Friday as the SC Department of Transportation unveiled a sign marking the intersection of US Highway 76 and Charlottes Road, west of Clinton, in his honor.
Sipes lost his life when a drunk driver hit his motorcycle on Hwy 76 in front of Trotters Restaurant on June 25, 2021. “He always put more attention and concern on people who were less fortunate or down on their luck,” a family statement says. “He had a heart of gold for helping people.”
After the wreck, Hunter passed away at Greenville Memorial Hospital on June 27, 2021. He was the son of James Travis Sipes and Angela Wilson Whiteford. In addition to being a Clinton firefighter, he worked at Food Lion of Clinton and was a member of Bellview Baptist Church. Funeral services with Fireman Honors were conducted on July 6 at Gray Funeral Home Chapel, and Hunter was laid to rest in Rosemont Cemetery. The family conducts an annual motorcycle ride in his honor. Reporting on the event, The Chronicle said, “On May 3rd, the Clinton community gathered in a powerful tribute to honor the memory of Hunter Sipes, a firefighter and 2020 Clinton High School graduate who tragically lost his life following a hit-and-run incident in 2020.
“The annual Memorial Ride for Sipes began at 10 a.m., with participants assembling earlier that morning at Whiteford’s Drive-in, a local landmark owned by Steven and Angie Whiteford, the parents of the late firefighter. The ride drew a large crowd of motorcyclists, first responders, and supporters from across the region, all riding in solidarity to remember Sipes and raase awareness about the dangers of drunk and impaired driving. ...”
When a Laurens man, Robert Curry Richardson, 57, pled guilty in April 2022, to felony DUI resulting in death and hit and run resulting in death (his blood -alcohol content was over two times the legal limit at 0.203), 8th Circuit Solicitor and current candidate for SC Attorney General David Stumbo said, “The fact that this defendant saw Hunter’s wounded body lying in the roadway then got back in his car and fled the scene that he caused, concerned only for his well-being, show this man’s lack of remorse for his actions. Hopefully, this conviction and sentence will allow Hunter’s loved ones to move forward from this horrific loss of such an honorable young man and public servant.”
The family’s statement says that Hunter had just gone through his first set of firefighter classes, and “while Hunter never had the opportunity to help anyone during a fire, he did help and save many lives by being an organ donor. He was such a smart and selfless young man. He was also employed at Food Lion in Clinton where he was nicknamed ‘the Colonel” because he cooked chicken so well. Hunter was just so full of life. He loved to hunt, fish, and ride his Harley. ... He was enrolled as a full-time student at PTC in Automotives. ...
“We know that he is in Heaven with God. Hunter was a Christian and was very proud of that fact. He’s an angel that watches over us now. Merry Christmas Hunter! We love and miss you so much each and every day!”
