Carolinian: A Family Affair

Here are their individual stories:

from left to right standing as seen in photo

Masceo S. DesChamps
’78 accounting

Manager of employee benefits for 16,000-employee Progress Energy (formerly Carolina Power and Light) since 1978, Raleigh, N.C.

“I remember Dr. Edwards in accounting at USC; any time I went to his office to see him, he made time for me, explained the subject matter to me, and encouraged me that I could do it. He told me to stay focused.

“I started at USC in the summer of 1975 just after high school graduation and took two courses each summer session. That allowed me to graduate a year early. I worked at Equifax during college to help pay the bills. I had spent time at Clemson University and thought a little bit about going there, but I preferred Carolina.”

Floyd DesChamps
’83 mechanical engineering

Senior staff member for U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, chaired by Sen. John McCain, Washington, D.C.

“Elmer Schwartz in engineering [now a distinguished professor emeritus] left a lasting impression on me. He had real-world experience and really knew how to reach the students.

“After seeing how doable college was for our older brothers and sisters, it wasn’t as pioneering for the rest of us to go. They had made a path for us. Also, I spent some weekends in high school with my brothers on campus, and that made the college experience a little less daunting.”

Tony L. DesChamps
’89 business management

Case manager for Liberty Mutual Insurance Co. in Columbia (His wife, Valerie, graduated from USC in 1986), Columbia.

“Responsibility was the main thing I learned during those four years at USC. I worked a part-time job at DHEC right up until my last day at USC—

I needed that money.”

“Most parents today give their kids a stereo, a computer, or a TV when they go off to college. When it came time for me to go to USC, I asked my mom if it was OK to take the family Bible with me. She said it was OK to take so long as I read it. I always kept it on my desk.”

Eunice Jamyce DesChamps
’81 commercial education

Manager of a medical office, Washington, D.C.

“I still remember Dean [Sid] Varney [former dean, now retired, of the College of Hospitality, Retail, and Sport Management]. He was a very kind individual.

“I had considered going to Columbia College, but, in the end, USC was the place for me.”

Eunice worked as a receptionist at Sydney Park CME Church in Columbia during her college years at USC.

Keisha Lillian DesChamps
’02 Women’s Studies, minor in early childhood education

Pre-school teacher in Virginia Beach, Va. (Her husband, Kenya Williamson, is a ’00 USC electrical engineering graduate and a communications officer in the U.S. Navy; they soon will be stationed in Monterey, Calif.).

“I never considered going anywhere else. It was USC all the way. I had visited my brothers and sisters all the time while they were at USC, so it was familiar ground when I got there.”

“One of my favorite professors at USC was Laura Woliver, a political science and Women’s Studies professor. She gave me a lot of advice—not just professional but on personal things, too. That really meant a lot to me.”

Keisha worked at Adam’s Mark Hotel while in college. Like her brothers and sisters before her, she attended the 117-year-old Sidney Park CME Church while in Columbia.

Maris DesChamps Cannon
’76 business

Office manager of Dennis N. Cannon Jr. PC law firm, Camden.

“I worked part time for USC’s development office and S.C. Tax Commission while attending USC from 1973 to 1976.

“I did post-graduate work in the College of Education, then went to work for General Motors Acceptance Corporation for two years. After leaving there, I was accepted into First National Bank’s management training and was promoted to branch manager.

“I learned all of my work ethics and professional skills working on the family farm and in banking—time management, organization, planning, management, and the philosophy to get the job done.”

from left to right sitting

LeRoy B. DesChamps
’79 associate degree
’81 BAIS

Regional human resources manager for 155 stores and 3,500 employees at CVS Pharmacy. (His wife, Cynthia, is a 1979 USC graduate), Columbia.

“It’s my business philosophy that the only way to grow is through people—you have to have happy employees. So recruiting is a 24/7 proposition—you notice good employees and ask them if they’re happy where they are.”

“I worked two and three part-time jobs while in school. I knew I had to be committed, and I had a direction to go. I had to manage my time and learned some valuable work habits along the way.”

Kachet Atonya DesChamps
’95 exercise science

Executive director of New Horizon Family Care, anon-profit life skills training facility, Hopkins, S.C.

“I wanted to go into nursing at first, but switched to exercise science. I worked at the S.C. vocational rehabilitation agency as a physical therapist’s aide before joining New Horizon.

“Was it any easier going to USC and being one of the youngest? Maybe a little easier. We didn’t have to carry the load that the others did.”

Other DesChamps family siblings are Myrtle D. Hastie, residing in Maryland; Roderick DesChamps, residing in Sumter, S.C., both of whom continued their education after high school; and Louie DesChamps (deceased).

By Chris Horn

One by one, the DesChamps brothers and sisters made their way to USC, then made their way in the world.

Rain or shine, Ralph and Naomi DesChamps set out every year to raise a profitable crop on their farm in Pinewood, S.C. Along the way, they raised a large family whose collective values and individual achievements would be the envy of any parent. Eight of their children earned undergraduate degrees at USC, and each one reflects the upbringing and self discipline their parents cultivated years ago.

“We developed a strong work ethic growing up on a farm,” said Maris DesChamps Cannon, the first of the DesChamps children to graduate from USC. “We knew that a way to promote ourselves beyond the farm was through higher education.”

DesChamps family life in rural Sumter County was built on responsibility. All of the children were expected to help out with farm chores and, as their age and abilities allowed, at the dry-cleaning business where their father worked after retiring from the state highway department. During high school, they got part-time jobs—the brothers all drove school buses and the sisters found work at various places near home.

When it came time to go to college, each of the DesChamps men and women made it on their own, working part-time jobs and cobbling together student loans and college grants to pay the bills.

“After the first few of my brothers and sisters went to college, it became the expected route. We knew we were going to college,” said Floyd DesChamps, a 1983 mechanical engineering graduate.

Maris graduated in 1976 in business administration; 26 years later, the youngest DesChamps, Keisha, earned her degree in women’s studies with a minor in secondary education. In between, four brothers and two other sisters followed the well-worn path from Pinewood to Columbia.

“We encouraged our siblings to come to Carolina,” said Masceo DesChamps, a 1978 graduate in accounting.

They listened—and succeeded.

Above photo: The DesChamps siblings gathered in Columbia June 19 when the youngest, Keisha, ’02, and her husband, Kenya, ’00, rededicated their wedding vows.