Please pray for my pricipal, Jo Mayer and her husband Charlie (who is the assistant principal at Lexington High where I graduated) as they are going through a time that I cannot begin to fathom.
Copied from "Thestate.com":
Brother, sister mourned after crash
Educators’ children die in I-77 wreck
By ADAM BEAM
Staff Writer
The only son and daughter of two Lexington 1 school administrators died in a traffic accident Friday on I-77 in Fairfield County.
Carrie Mayer-Cowan, 29, and Benjamin Mayer, 23, died after their 2006 Toyota Scion crossed the median on I-77 and was hit on the passenger side by a Dodge Durango, according to Lance Cpl. Dwight Green with the South Carolina Highway Patrol. Troopers did not know why their car traveled across the median.
Both died at the scene, Fairfield County Coroner Joe Silvia said.
The two were the children of Jo Mayer, principal of White Knoll High School, and Charles Mayer, an assistant principal at Lexington High school.
Carrie Mayer-Cowan was a chemistry teacher at Hanahan High School in Berkeley County. Benjamin Mayer was an engineer at Mabry Engineering in Five Points. Both had graduated with honors from Lexington High School.
At his home Sunday night in Lexington, Charles Mayer was holding fast to memories of his family.
He recalled how, for a $75 upgrade fee, an Alamo rental car salesperson in Phoenix let him rent a Cadillac for his family’s 1992 vacation — with unlimited mileage.
“The Mayer family has been known to do vacation in attack mode,” he said. “We turned the vehicle back in after about two weeks, and it went from 400 miles on it to a little over 5,200 miles on it.
“But we saw the West.”
The Mayers say that community support in response to their loss has been tremendous.
“The house has been full,” Jo Mayer said. “The night we got the news, we were at my brother’s house, and people started arriving then just before we even had a handle on anything. Since we’ve been at home, it’s just been people constantly, and we appreciate that. That’s the kind of support that we need and will continue to need.”
Carrie Mayer-Cowan was in love with nature, a passion that led her to teach at the Catalina Island Marine Institute off the coast near Los Angeles. There she met her husband, Joe Cowan, and the two bounced across the country studying wildlife and biology.
Cowan said his wife was a gentle perfectionist — only getting angry at herself when she “didn’t realize how perfect she was.” Cowan said his grief is still so new that it will take a while “for it to really seem real.”
“I think the times I hurt the worst are not even now but the next months and years when I think about what our life would have been like together,” he said.
Benjamin Mayer was a year out of Clemson, working at Mabry Engineering. His parents remember him for the novel he started when he was 12, his SAT team’s state championship and his volunteer work with the S.C. Wildlife Federation.
“Carrie was probably more outgoing, more assured of herself,” Charles Mayer said. “Ben was more reserved, but he’d trick you when he had a chance.”
The Mayers have started the Mayer-Cowan Scholarship Fund as a memorial. Donations may be sent to the Lexington School District 1 Education Foundation, care of Connie McFarland, P.O. Box 1869, Lexington, SC 29701.
Memorials may also be sent to the S.C. Wildlife Federation at 2711 Middleburg Drive, Suite 101, Columbia, SC 29204.
Reach Beam at (803) 771-8405 or abeam@thestate.com.
Benjamin E. Mayer
LEXINGTON — Services for Benjamin E. Mayer, 23, will be held Tuesday, December 20, 2005, at 11:00 a.m. at St. Stephen’s Lutheran Church with interment to follow in Providence Lutheran Church Cemetery. The family will receive friends Monday, December 19, 2005, from 5:00 until 8:00 p.m. at Caughman-Harman Funeral Home, Lexington Chapel. Memorials may be made to The Mayer Cowan Scholarship Fund of Lexington School District #1 Education Foundation, in care of Connie McFarland at PO Box 1869, Lexington, SC 29071 or the S.C. Wildlife Federation at 2711 Middleburg Drive, Suite 101, Columbia, SC 29204.
Benjamin died Friday, December 16, 2005. Born in Lexington County, he was the son of Charles A. and Nancy Jo Harmon Mayer. He was a 2000 Honor Graduate of Lexington High School. While there, he was a member of the 1999 State Championship SAT Team and the Wildcat Staff. He was a National Merit Commended Student. In 2004, he graduated from Clemson University with a B.S. Degree in Civil Engineering.
Benjamin was employed with Mabry Engineering of Columbia. He was a member of and often volunteered with the SC Wildlife Federation. He was a gifted artist and writer with a passion for life and natural warmth that brought a smile to all he encountered. Benjamin was a member of St. Stephen’s Lutheran Church.
Surviving are his parents, Charles A. and Nancy Jo Harmon Mayer of Lexington and paternal grandparents, Albert and Ethel Mayer of Peak. He was joined in death with his sister, Carrie Mayer-Cowan and preceded in death by maternal grandparents, Royce H. “Buster” and Winnie Seay Harmon and paternal grandmother, Margaret Weaks Mayer. Other family members are aunts and uncles, Pam and Bob Harmon, of Lexington and Luanne and Jim Mayer of Peak.
Carrie E. Mayer-Cowan
CHARLESTON — Services for Carrie E. Mayer-Cowan, 29, will be held Tuesday, December 20, 2005, at 11:00 a.m. at St. Stephen’s Lutheran Church with interment to follow in Providence Lutheran Church Cemetery. The family will receive friends Monday, December 19, 2005, from 5:00 until 8:00 p.m. at Caughman-Harman Funeral Home, Lexington Chapel. Memorials may be made to The Mayer Cowan Scholarship Fund of Lexington School District #1 Education Foundation, in care of Connie McFarland at PO Box 1869, Lexington, SC 29071 or the S.C. Wildlife Federation at 2711 Middleburg Drive, Suite 101, Columbia, SC 29204.
Carrie died Friday, December 16, 2005. Born in Lexington County, she was the daughter of Charles A. and Nancy Jo Harmon Mayer. She was a 1994 Honor Graduate of Lexington High School. While there, she was an active participant in student government. As a varsity cheerleader, she was on two State Championship teams and competed at the national level. She was a member of the LHS Track Team in the High Jump Event. She also participated in the Teacher Cadet Program. In 1998, she graduated from the College of Charleston with a B.S. Degree in Biology.
After graduation, she followed a career path that allowed her to fulfill her passion for the earth’s oceans and for all of nature. For two years, she worked as a Marine Science Educator for the Catalina Island Marine Institute, off the coast of Los Angeles, CA. During that time, she was also an Education Intern at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. After leaving Catalina, she taught Marine Science at the Marine Resources Development Foundation of Key Largo, FL.
After that, she sought to share her passion for wildlife with students in the public schools of South Carolina. Her first teaching job was at St. John’s High School in Charleston. Most recently, she taught Chemistry at Hanahan High School in Berkley County. While teaching, she was pursuing a degree in Educational Leadership at The Citadel. Carrie was a member of St. Stephen’s Lutheran Church in Lexington, the SC Marine Educator’s Association and the SC Wildlife Federation.
Surviving are her husband, Joe Cowan of Charleston; parents, Charles A. and Nancy Jo Harmon Mayer of Lexington and paternal grandparents, Albert and Ethel Mayer of Peak. She was joined in death with her brother, Benjamin E. Mayer and preceded in death by maternal grandparents, Royce H. “Buster” and Winnie Seay Harmon and paternal grandmother, Margaret Weaks Mayer. Other family members are aunts and uncles, Pam and Bob Harmon, of Lexington and Luanne and Jim Mayer of Peak.
www.caughmanharmanfuneralhome.com
