Eldred E. Prince

Eldred Eugene Prince was born Dec. 23, 1911, in Loris, S.C., the son of John Bert Prince and Lessie Prince. He was educated in the public schools of Horry County and graduated from Wake Forest University in 1933. Prince was commissioned as an officer in the United States Navy in 1943. He organized Prince Chevrolet Company in Loris and served as president and board chairman for 44 years. In addition, he found business organizations in Loris and Tabor City, N.C. In 1963, Prince was principal organizer of the Horry County National Bank and served as a chairman of the board for 11 years. He also served as director of the Waccamaw Land Company for its founding in 1965 to 1985.

As chairman of the building committee, Loris Community Hospital was build in 1950. He served as chairman of the board of commissioners at the Loris hospital for 33 years. In 1974, Prince recieved the Distinguished Service award of the American Legion for "Service Above Self to God and Country." As chairman of the Horry County District for the Boy Scouts of America, he was responsible for all scouting activity in the county; he earned the prestigious Silver Beaver award for his service in 1964.

When the South Carolina General Assembly created the Horry County Higher Education Commission in 1959, Prince served as a member until 1960 and chairman from 1961 to 1964. He was a member of the Coastal Educational Foundation from 1959 to 1976, during which time he served as chairman and directed a county-wide fund-raising campaign, the first major such effort for Coastal Carolina College, that raised $317,000 for construction of the first campus building, the Edward M. Singleton Building.

In 1978, he recieved a citation from the University of South Carolina for outstanding service to Coastal Carolina College and to higher education in Horry County. In 1982, the University of South Carolina conferred him the honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters.

The Eldred E. Prince Building, funded by the Horry County Higher Education Commission, was completed and dedicated in 1994.

His son, Eldred E. Prince Jr., was a longtime professor of history at CCU.

Prince was named an honorary founder of Coastal Carolina University in 1993.