Bobby Joe Counts

Bobby Joe Counts, age 87, passed away peacefully at his home in the early morning of January 27, 2023. Known as “Pa”  to his family, the rest of this message will be written in the fullness that he lived his life, ready to make others laugh and to get work done. 

Bobby was born on April 19, 1935 in Lexington County, South Carolina, to Gladys and Wilbur Counts, and immediately was “up to no good.” From there on, he hit the ground running early each morning with his cup of “java” and a pair of brown work boots on his feet. He plowed the fields, prepped to make baskets for Roof Basket Company, and delivered them to places far and wide (all without a map, he’d add). Later, he met the love of his life, Janice Counts, to whom he was married for 63+ years. During his working career for the State of SC, he did what he did best; fix the things that people broke or things they simply couldn’t figure out. 

After retiring from the State, Pa set to fixing other things people couldn’t quite get done and something he was good at fixing, small motors. You could find him in the shop with his jeans covered in oil and dirt, and always ready to help out a neighbor or family member who couldn’t get a mower running. He may even be throwing a fishing hook into a watering hole catching crappy, plowing the garden on his green John Deere tractor, cutting the grass, or relaxing underneath the oak tree at the picnic table, a cold beer in hand.

Not even a severe stroke stopped Bobby Joe from wanting to work around the home. Bobby still loved the blackest cup of “java” in the morning and you could often find him on the “front of the front porch” at home watching the cars, birds, and the “skins” scuttle around the yard. If he wasn’t there, you’d easily find Pa singing, calling to his dogs, watching WWE “scuffling”, and eating at the only good place to get food, other than home, Shealy’s BBQ. Pa’s “day in the life” was just that, a day the best he could make, with what life had given him near the end, regardless of any physical restraints.

Now, this message by no means covers all of the mischief Bobby got into in his life, but now Pa is on to a new place to cause a little more trouble. He leaves behind many, many friends and family that love him dearly, all with their very own Bobby-given nickname: Janice “Ma” Counts (wife), Theresa “Till” Cox (daughter) and Timothy “Head” Cox, William “Bubba” Cox (grandson), Miranda “Bump” Johnson (granddaughter) and Nathan “Nate” Johnson, and Linda Mantooth (sister)) and Hugh Mantooth. He is preceded om death by his parents, Wilbur and Gladys Counts, Hazel Frick (sister), and his son, Shane “Shane-o” Counts. 

A memorial service will be held on Wednesday, February 1, 2023, 4:00 pm at St. Matthews Lutheran Church in Lexington, SC.

In lieu of flowers, please make love offerings to St. Matthews Lutheran Church.

We would also like to reach out a heartfelt thank you to Amedisys Hospice for the loving care they took of Bobby this past month. 

Finally, take Bobby Joe’s advice on life: “Don’t do nothin’ I wouldn’t do,” and “keep it between the ditches.”

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