Bobby Frierson

Bobby shared a birthday with "Sesame Street" actor Bob McGrath. Both of them were born on June 13, 1932.

Bobby graduated from Clemson University in 1954 with a degree in Horticulture. After graduating from college he enrolled in the Army and fought in The Korean War. He was eventually reactivated and flew in the Air Force during the Berlin Crisis. Bobby and Woody founded Vikings of Denmark.

In 1973 Bobby and Woody were featured in The Book of World Records for breaking the skydiving record. Bobby flew the entire time and Woody jumped.

At the time of his marriage to Joan she was an accomplished skydiver, a runner, an equestrian, and respected nurse at Lexington Medical Center. Joan was previously a member of the skydiving club at University of South Carolina. Joan quit skydiving in 1986 prior to Cayce's birth. Today Joan works in Orangeburg, SC as a CCU nurse at The Orangeburg Regional Medical Center. Joan eventually stopped running to take care of Cayce.

After marrying his high school sweetheart Ann Utsey they had four children named Connie, Elizabeth, Vance, and Cliff. His marriage to Monika Langehans produced no children. Upon marrying Joan Latimer she and Bobby welcomed their daughter Cayce on January 28, 1987. At the time of his death Bobby was married to Joan for 24 years. Joan and Bobby were a month away from celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary when he died. Two months earlier Bobby's oldest grandchild Callie got married on July 30, 2005. Together Bobby and Ann had five grandchildren named Callie, Ethan, Isabel, Emily, and Evan. After his death Bobby and Ann became great grandparents to Josiah, Evangeline, Adele, Halle, Jude, Lilyanna, Asher, and Hazel.

Bobby was the middle child of W.C. Frierson and Mary Bowman Frierson. He's the younger brother of John Frierson and the older brother of identical twins Maggie Frierson Young and Kathy Frierson Sanders. His sister Maggie died from muscle cancer in 1991.

In 1997 Bobby helped Cheryl Stearns break the record for making the most jumps at night. This was done at Skydive Raeford in Raeford, NC. Bobby flew Cheryl the entire time.

Bobby Frierson was a well known skydiver from Blackville, South Carolina. In addition to skydiving he was a pilot, a crop duster, a horticulturist, and a state constable. During his career Bobby made over 6,000 jumps. After nearly dying from a stroke in 2000 he retired and moved to West Columbia, SC. He eventually started skydiving again.

Bobby had a number of cousins and a number of nieces and nephews. His aunt Elizabeth Bowman died from a stroke in 2003 two years before him.

In 2004 a year before he died Bobby was arrested for disorderly conduct. He was sentenced to three days in jail. That same year Bobby received second and third degree burns after he picked up a burning log that fell out of his family's fireplace during an ice storm.

Four months prior to his death Bobby's niece Crystal got married on May 12, 2005. He was able to attend the wedding with Joan and Cayce. Bobby's youngest daughter Cayce served as a Bride's Maid in Crystal's wedding.

Until Cayce was born Joan and Bobby participated in running events together. They once did a triathlon together. They would often go bike riding with Bobby's late sister Maggie and her husband Robert Young. 24 years after Maggie's death Robert died from a heart infection on May 25, 2015. He'd been remarried to Susan Young for 23 years.

On August 30, 2017 Bobby's second wife Monika Langehans died from cancer. Until his death Bobby remained friends with Ann and Monika.

In 2004 Bobby's niece Lynn Perkinson was diagnosed with PPMS after her daughter Chloe was born. Lynn lived in a nursing home for 8 years. After taking a turn for the worst in 2017 Lynn chose hospice. By that point she couldn't swallow anymore. Lynn refused to get a feeding tube and a breathing tube as they would have been long term. Lynn died on October 6, 2018. At the time of her death Lynn's lungs gave out. Lynn's husband David was with her. Lynn was 52 years old when she died. Lynn's daughter Chloe suffers from JRA and IBS.