Bobby Riddle Counts, 91, of Kibler’s Bridge Road, Prosperity, died Thursday a week ago, the Third of September, 2026 after succumbing to a cardiac event following an accident at his home. He was born on July 29, 1935 on his family’s farm between Little Mountain and Prosperity, the third child of the late Clarence Alonzo Counts and Ruth Leona Riddle Counts.

He was a life long member of Mt. Tabor Lutheran Church, frequently served on Parish Council and the church property committee. Having been one of the men of the congregation who built the new fellowship hall, kitchen, church offices, restrooms and music suite was always a point of tremendous pride, and a demonstration of his love for his church and for the Church’s Lord, Jesus Christ.

After graduating from the Little Mountain Public School (1-12), he attended Newberry College wanting to pursue a teaching degree; however, he left college to begin a life-long career in commercial construction. He worked, firstly, for Cannon Construction Company of Newberry, then Midlands Construction Company of Columbia, and then, following his treatment and cure of lymphatic cancer, worked the remainder of his career in maintenance and construction for the hydroelectric group within the former South Carolina Electric & Gas Company, which was his favorite position throughout his entire employment history. Bobby always said that he was very blessed to work on jobs that he loved to do with wonderful men who appreciated his considerable skills and who thoroughly enjoyed his company. He really felt his final post based at the old Columbia Canal Hydro Plant was the most enjoyable of all the positions he had held.

He married Betty Jane Swygert of the Pine Ridge Community near Chapin on March 21, 1959 at Macedonia Lutheran Church and enjoyed a long, happy, faithful marriage. Bobby always enjoyed history, and passed that interest on to his two sons who continued to share that passion. Many weekend excursions and vacations included trips to various museums.

In retirement, Bobby, with the help of his beloved wife, enjoyed a “second” career as a beef farmer, and although he would often say he “…did not know which was crazier, a cow, or the man who owned it,” he genuinely enjoyed carrying on his family heritage of farming on land that had belonged to his family since before the Revolution.

In addition to farming, gardening, his work at Mt. Tabor, and spending time with his grandchildren, he thoroughly enjoyed traveling with his wife to various places, and especially enjoyed the bus tours they would go on where fellow passengers often encouraged him to share jokes and tell stories, which he happily obliged.

He was predeceased by his parents, an elder brother, Carroll A. Counts and his wife Shelia Hardin Counts, a sister, Mary Ruth Ruff and her husband Marrion Ruff, his younger son, Kevin Timothy Counts, another brother-in-law, John Carroll Swygert, and two sisters-in-law, Dianne Wessinger (Donald) Counts and Eloise Shealy (Donald) Counts.

His life-long best-friend, the late Heyward Shealy, died almost exactly a week after Bobby’s passing. The knowledge that those two are still together has been a source of comfort to both families, like the once popular Christian song of decades ago, “…friends are friends forever if the Lord’s the Lord of them.”

He is survived by his devoted and faithful wife of sixty-seven years, Betty of the home, his elder son and his wife, the Rev. Steven Bobby Counts and Hanneke Francisca Counts of Chapin, a daughter-in-law, Kathy Marshall Counts of Aiken; his brother, Donald Ray Counts of Prosperity; and his grandchildren: Dr. John William Counts and fiancée, Sydney Botcher of Johnson City, TN; Andrew Steven Counts and wife Amanda Sistare Counts of Chapin and Athens, GA; Glenn Adam Counts of Clemson, and Amanda Marie Counts of Columbia.

Bobby’s memory will be treasured by a host of friends and family who enjoyed his humor and laughter, who tolerated his need to be right all the time and loved him in spite of it, and who share his Christian faith and resurrection hope.

The funeral service will be held at Mt. Tabor Lutheran Church, Little Mountain at thee o’clock in the afternoon, Saturday, September 19, 2026. Following the burial in the churchyard, the family will receive friends in the Fellowship Hall and invites everyone to partake of the reception provided.

Memorials may be made to Mt. Tabor Lutheran Church, 816 Mt. Tabor Road, Little Mountain, SC 29075 or the Little Mountain Volunteer Rescue and Fire Department, PO Box 8, Little Mountain, SC 29075 or the Fairview Rescue Squad, 149 Seibert Road, Prosperity, SC 29127.