Celebration of life held for civil rights trailblazer, Rev. Simon Bouie

IRMO, SC (WOLO) — Saturday morning, St. Paul AME Church in Irmo honored the life and legacy of the late Reverend and Dr. Simon Bouie.

The civil rights trailblazer died earlier this month at the age of 86.

According to Palmer Memorial Chapel, Rev. Bouie served his church for 56 years — dedicating his life to advancing civil rights, education, and affordable housing.

At the age of 20, he was arrested for participating in the historic 1960 sit-in at Eckerd’s Drug Store in downtown Columbia, leading to his victorious U.S. Supreme Court case Bouie v. The City of Columbia. Recalling the sit-in, Bouie told AP News, “We had a desire to fight for what was right and nobody could turn us around. We walked in that building with our heads held high and sat down.”

Sixty years later, a judge in Richland County expunged Bouie’s arrest record from the sit-in protests.

His obituary with Palmer Memorial Chapel reads:

“Well done, good and faithful servant.” — Matthew 25:23

With profound sorrow and hearts filled with gratitude for a life extraordinarily well lived, the family of Reverend Dr. Simon P. Bouie announces his peaceful transition from labor to reward on June 12, 2026.

Reverend Dr. Simon P. Bouie was a beloved husband, father, grandfather, pastor, educator, author, civil rights pioneer, social worker, and community leader whose life embodied faith, courage, service, and justice. For more than fifty-six years, he faithfully served the African Methodist Episcopal Church and dedicated his life to advancing civil rights, educational opportunity, affordable housing, social services, and the spiritual development of countless individuals across the nation.

Born in Columbia, South Carolina, on October 3, 1939, Rev. Bouie was baptized, joined, and raised at the historic Chapelle Memorial African Methodist Episcopal Church.

Rev. Bouie was a proud 1957 graduate of Booker T. Washington High School in Columbia, South Carolina. He attended Allen University, earning a Bachelor of Science degree, and later attended the Interdenominational Theological Center (ITC) in Atlanta, Georgia, earning both his Master’s Degree and Doctorate Degree. He also completed postgraduate studies at the Atlanta University School of Social Work and the South Carolina State Hospital Clinical Pastoral Education Program.

A trailblazer in multiple professions, Rev. Bouie was recognized as one of the first African American licensed social workers in the South.

At the age of twenty, while a sophomore at Allen University, Simon Bouie participated in the historic 1960 sit-in at Eckerd’s Drug Store in downtown Columbia. His arrest led to the landmark United States Supreme Court case Bouie v. City of Columbia, decided on June 22, 1964, which became one of the most significant legal victories of the Civil Rights Movement.

Throughout his ministry, Rev. Bouie faithfully served Emmanuel AME Church, Bishop Memorial AME Church, Bright Temple AME Church, St. Paul AME Church, Mt. Olive AME Church, Mother Bethel AME Church, Metropolitan AME Church, Bethel AME Churches in Buffalo and Copiague, Zion AME Church, Union AME Church, and St. Mary’s AME Church.

He was a Life Member of the NAACP, a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Incorporated, 100 Black Men of America, Operation PUSH, the 1000 Plus Club of Allen University, Hollywood Lodge No. 93, and the Booker T. Washington High School Alumni Association.

Just weeks before his passing, Rev. Bouie shared his life story through his autobiographical chapter, “The AME Boy from Oak Street,” published in the anthology The Passion of Our Culture.

He was preceded in death by his beloved wife Willie Omia Bouie; his mother Evelyn Bouie; his identical twin brother Samuel P. Bouie; his sister Abbie Jean Bouie Wheeler; his aunt Claudia Bouie; and his grandmother Henrietta Bouie.

He leaves to cherish his memory his sons Erich Bouie and Harold Bouie, Sr. (Mika Kakehashi); grandchildren Yu Bouie Wilson (Justin), Sasha Bouie, and Harold Bouie, Jr.; nephews Michael Jameson, Samuel Bouie, Jr., and Renaud Bouie; cousins Brenda Moffett Worku, Rudolph Moffett, Sr., and Ruth Bowman; nieces Toschia Moffett Young (Alex) and Donzetta Moffett Faulk (Rence); and a host of cherished members of the Bowman family, extended relatives, church family members, lifelong friends, colleagues, former parishioners, and community leaders.