Funeral services for the Rev. Robert Louis Poinsette, conducted by the Rev. Odell Ruffin, were held Thursday, January 14, 2010, at Antioch Missionary Baptist Church in Kingstree. Burial, directed by Pressley’s Funeral Home, followed at the church cemetery.
Rev. Poinsette died Wednesday, January 6, 2010. He was born November 13, 1928, in Kingstree, a son of the late Joseph Poinsette and Anna Shaw Poinsette. He attended the public school system of Williamsburg County, graduating from high school. He was employed with Baxter Laboratory for 29 years, where he worked in the warehouse and plant delivery mail. He served in the United States Army for two years from September 1952 to July 1954. During his service he fought in the Korean Conflict and received an honorable discharge. He was a member of Antioch Baptist Church, where he served as assistant pastor. In 1990 he was appointed pastor of Hickory Hill Baptist, where he served until 2001. In that same year he was appointed pastor of Macedonia Baptist Church, where he served until 2005. He worked in the St. Paul Community for over 20 years as a farmer. Survivors are: his wife, RosaLee Mitchum Poinsette; two sons, Louis Anderson Poinsette (Gwendolyn) of Rochester, New York; and Robert Louis Poinsette (Hope) of Florence; two daughters, Joann Davis of Rochester, New York; and Phyllis Beaufort (Terry) of Kingstree; seven sisters, Peggy Poinsette and Helen Jean Maxwell, both of Wilmington, North Carolina; Reva Bradley of Yonkers, New York; Lelia Peterson (Roosevelt), Nancy Brown (William), Mae Dell Floyd and Betty McKnight, 12 grandchildren; and nine great-grandchildren.