Edisto Island, SC – Albert Rhett Heyward III, 76, passed away July 24, 2022 with his family by his side after a short battle with cancer. The son of Albert Rhett Heyward II and Anna Belle Carroll Heyward, he was born October 23, 1945 at Providence Hospital in Columbia, South Carolina. He was raised in Columbia, and had an idyllic childhood running wild with his siblings and a passel of neighborhood kids on Springlake Road. He graduated from the Bolles School in 1963 and received a Bachelor of the Arts degree in History from The Citadel in 1968. While at the Citadel, he was an unmodel cadet and one of the Boo’s Lambs.
After the Citadel, Albert served in the United States Marine Corps in active duty for three years and in the Reserves for twenty years, retiring as a Major. One corpsman serving underneath him described Albert as his toughest but best company commander—the enlisted men in his service always got what they needed first, before the officers.
After retiring from active service, Albert worked with his father and brother at W. B. Guimarin & Company as an estimator before founding Ecology Control Systems, a sales, service and light manufacturing company he operated for nearly a decade. In the early 80’s, he turned his entrepreneurial expertise to the emerging industry of Self Storage. He was both a pioneer and a titan of the industry, developing almost one million square feet of property along the Eastern seaboard. He was a coveted speaker, served on both the regional and national boards of the Self Storage Association, and was an active consultant to numerous property development groups throughout the nation.
Albert found many other communities to serve, including the Columbia Rotary and the Richland County School District One board. His service as a little league coach spanned many years, and he was as well known for being hard on his players as for their sheer devotion to him. They still remember his winning strategies of caffeinated drinks before the game and celebratory Baskin Robbins after a win.
Albert was passionate about family history, and was an active member of the Society of the Cincinatti. He was an avid hunter, not only in the United States, but in Argentina and Africa. He was an avid collector and trader of collectible automobiles, boats, and Harley Davidson motorcycles. He loved riding with friends in the mountains of North Carolina, Bike Week in Myrtle Beach and Daytona, and once made the trek from South Carolina to Sturgis. Despite his tenure as an unmodel cadet at the Citadel, he was a model alumnus, and was passionate about the Stray Dogs Society. He was previously a member of the Columbia Cotillion, the Caroliniana Ball, Forest Lake Club, and was a graduate of Mrs. Sloan’s Dance School.
Surviving Albert are his wife, Misty Lambert Heyward; his children, Mary Allison Heyward, Albert Rhett Heyward IV, Daniel Wayne Lambert (Ginny Rice), and Katelynn Dell Lambert; grandchildren Julia Coles Heyward, Albert Rhett Heyward V, Eliza Ann Heyward, and their mother, Julia Eckhardt Heyward; his former wife, Cynthia Brown Heyward; his siblings, Church Carroll Heyward (Susan Burnett), Anna Belle Heyward Kibler, and Sarah Heyward Ide (Charles Hugh Ide); and a slew of nieces, nephews, grand-nieces and grand-nephews, all of whom will endeavor to live life as fully as the Kingfish.
A memorial service for Albert Rhett Heyward III will be held at 11:00 AM on Saturday August 6, 222 at St. Andrews Anglican Church in Mount Pleasant. A Celebration of Life will be held at 1:30 PM at the Citadel Boat House. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to The Stray Dog Society c/o The Citadel Foundation 164 Market St #394 Charleston SC 29401and Fishin’ for a Mission c/o St. Andrews Church 440 Whilden Street Mt. Pleasant, SC 29464.
Dyches Funeral Home and Crematory, 11372 Ellenton Street, Barnwell, S.C. is assisting the family.