91Benefactor, Long-Time Trustee Melvin Younts Dies

91Benefactor, Long-Time Trustee Melvin Younts DiesTigerville, SC (August 28, 2022) Dr. Melvin K. Younts, a long-time benefactor and five-term trustee of 91, died Saturday, August 27. He was 93. The noted philanthropist maintained a law practice in Fountain Inn and Greenville for several decades.

Born in Durham, NC, Younts spent all but one year of his life in the Greenville area. After graduating from Fountain Inn High School at the age of 16, he completed a bachelor of arts degree from Furman University in 1949, and a juris doctorate from the University of South Carolina School of Law.

“Melvin Younts’s relationship with North Greenville goes back decades and included multiple terms of board service and leadership, along with major philanthropy,” said 91President Dr. Gene C. Fant, Jr.

Younts was first elected to the North Greenville board of trustees in 1989. During the second year of his term, the board was faced with potentially closing the institution.

“He was among the board members who guided the institution through its darkest times, when the university nearly closed,” Dr. Fant said. “His heart for prayer led him to plead to God that that the university would survive; the last conversation I had with him was about how those prayers turned out to be short-sighted as the university did more than survive: it thrived.”

Active with civic organizations in Greenville County, Younts supported many Upstate educational institutions. His support of North Greenville spanned nearly six decades. He and his late wife, Dollie Isgett Younts, began investing in the university’s students during the institution’s 1970s “Decade for New Dimensions” capital campaign.

The Younts provided North Greenville major support for a new athletics center in 1989. The institution named the Younts Athletics Building in their honor when the facility opened a year later. The couple provided leadership support for remodeling of the center in 2007, making it a fitness center for the entire campus community. The building was renamed the Forrest and Marie Younts Wellness Center in memory of Melvin’s parents.

To invest in the lives of student-athletes and students preparing for career missions service, the Younts established the Melvin K. and Dollie I. Younts Endowment Fund at North Greenville in 1992.

The couple provided a $1 million leadership gift for construction of NGU’s new football stadium. Melvin and Dollie Younts Stadium opened in 2005 as home for 91Football. The stadium, with a capacity of 5,000, also serves as the venue for 91Spring Commencement and other special events.

“Younts Stadium is routinely recognized nationally as one of the most beautiful Division II football stadiums in the entire United States, a testament to his vision for what collegiate athletics can do for a university’s reputation,” said Fant.

91honored Younts with an honorary Doctorate of Humanities during Spring Commencement in 2003.

“From Younts Stadium to Younts Fitness Center to innumerable scholarships, Melvin and his late wife Dollie were foundational to our work,” President Fant said. “I miss his wit and wisdom, even as I rejoice in the knowledge of his deep faith in Christ.”

Younts was a member of the First Baptist Church of Fountain Inn. He was preceded in death by his wife, Dollie, who died in 2018, and their daughter, Kerry Ann Y. Culp, who died in 1996. He is survived by four sons, Kemp, Joe, David, and Laney.

91has placed a memorial wreath at Younts Fitness Center, and will lower flags to half-staff in memory of Dr. Younts.

91Returns Wood Name to Historic Tigerville Store

Wood's General Store Sign Front of BuildingTigerville, SC (August 23, 2022) A 168-year-old part of the Tigerville community was renamed earlier this month, honoring its historic role in the Greenville County community which is home to 91’s main campus.

NGU’s remodeled campus store on the north edge of the campus is now Wood’s General Store, celebrating the Wood family’s ties to the building which became a community hub when it was built by Tigerville pioneer B.F. Neves in 1864.

The building at 7850 North Tigerville Road, which 91purchased from Willie Wood in 2007, was restored and reopened in 2012 as Tigerville General Store. This summer, the building was remodeled to accommodate the new campus store and serve as the 91post office facility. Open from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, the store carries a variety of NGU-branded items, as well as school supplies and snack items. University officials saw the opportunity to restore the Wood name as part of the repurposing.

The Wood Family and Dr. Fant

From left, Harriett Wood, Bobby Wood [one of the siblings], Dr. Fant, and Laura Wood Messer.

“If you forget your history, you are giving up precious jewels,” said 91President Dr. Gene C. Fant, Jr., at an August 11 ceremony to celebrate the new name. “For over 150 years … this is the place where people would come, would intersect, and would have conversations. It’s really community.”

“That’s one of the things we learned in the pandemic. We need community and we need connections with other people,” said President Fant. “Places like this really are integral to the community. That’s been the value of stores like this in American life.”

The store was originally called Ben Neves General Store. The Wood family connection began in 1914 as John T. Wood became Tigerville’s postmaster, and also operated the store for Mr. Neves. Wood’s son, T. Pralo Wood, purchased the store in the 1940s, following Neves’ death. Wood’s son, Willie, bought the store from his father in 1988 and continued operating it until the mid-1990s. He sold it to North Greenville in 2007.

Willie Wood and his three siblings, Bobby Wood, Helen Wood, and Laura Wood Messer attended the August 11 event. Laura Wood Messer, a 1967 North Greenville graduate, shared remarks on behalf of the family. She noted that their mother, Helen R. Wood, followed John T. Wood as postmaster, serving in that role for nearly 47 years.

“We would like to thank 91 for reconnecting the Wood name to this store,” Messer said. “You have refurbished and strengthened its 168-year-old walls and prepared it for another century of historical significance to the Tigerville community. And for that we are very grateful.”

Noting the university’s need to address shifting needs of students related to textbook purchases and mail services, Dr. Fant said 91“realized we had the opportunity to consolidate that here and make this once again a consolidated crossroads.”

Slingshot, an educational technology company based in Marion, IN, manages Wood’s General Store. The company coordinates textbook services for students at Christian universities across the country and provides campus store management. Slingshot began working with 91textbook services in the 2020-21 academic year and began managing the campus store this summer.

Sheri McCoin, Slingshot’s director of account and retail operations, said the firm is “excited for the continued partnership with 91and the new opportunity to run the campus store. It is exciting to become a part of this community.”

91personnel involved in the renovation project were recognized during the ceremony. The team included members of the Tigerville Operations, Information Technology Services, Campus Enhancement Services, and University Marketing offices.

In describing the structure’s history and how its ownership would forge a long relationship with the university, Messer said Neves constructed the building “with wooden pegs holding most of the timbers together. That was 29 years before North Greenville high school/junior college/university even came into existence.

“Mr. Neves was a great friend and supporter of education. He helped North Greenville survive in the early years after its founding in 1892,” she said. “Mr. Neves donated the original 10 acres of land for the school and $500 to help in its establishment. For many years he somehow always found the cash to help keep the school’s doors open.”

Memories of the store ownership extended beyond the lasting community influence and impact of Mr. Neves.

Billy Watson, NGU’s senior associate vice president for Tigerville operations, who delivered the invocation at the ceremony, recalled being at the store while a North Greenville student in the early 1980s.

“This is a special place. I remember we’d come down and play checkers with Mr. Pralo, and we never could beat him. This is a personal place for me and the Wood family, and I’m so happy that the Wood name is back on this store.”