Rhea Taliaferro Eskew

Rhea Taliaferro. Eskew, 84, died Saturday, May 24, 2008. Born in Lebanon, TN, on November 16, 1923, he was the son of the late Robert Edgar and Sammie Taylor Eskew. He attended the University of Tennessee in Knoxville prior to joining the U.S. Army and serving in North Africa, Sicily, England, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Germany. He was awarded five battle stars. He was a member of Buncombe Street United Methodist Church where he was a member of the Board of Stewards and the Fellowship Sunday School class. Mr. Eskew retired from Multimedia, Inc. in 1987 after 40 years in the news business. He had been president of the Multimedia Newspaper Company, and a vice president and member of the Board of Directors of the parent company, Multimedia, Inc. Mr. Eskew joined Multimedia in 1973 as general manager of the Greenville News-Piedmont and he became president and co-publisher of the newspapers in 1977. Mr. Eskew was appointed president of the newspaper company in 1978 while keeping his position as publisher of the Greenville newspapers. His duties encompassed responsibility for Multimedia's 14 daily newspapers and 48 weeklies located in seven states. Governor Carroll Campbell awarded him the Order of the Palmetto, South Carolina's highest civilian honor, in 1988. Mr. Eskew had been president of the Southern Newspaper Publishers Association and the South Carolina Press Association. He also served on several committees of the American Newspaper Publishers Association. Before joining Multimedia, Mr. Eskew had worked for United Press International, which employed him as a reporter while he was a senior at Emory University, from which he was graduated, earning an English degree, in 1948. He was a reporter and editor in Atlanta, Tallahassee, and Miami before transferring to UPI's business office and ultimately having responsibility for UPI's operations in seven states. He also attended the Wharton School of Business. He was transferred to New York in 1962 as executive sales manager. He later was appointed general manager of global communications in which capacity he oversaw the transition of the company's news gathering and transmission facilities from teletype to computers. Mr. Eskew served as president of the Greenville Symphony Orchestra Association, of Goodwill Industries of the Upper South Carolina as well as being a member of its national board of directors. He was a trustee for the Peace Center for the Performing Arts and the Greenville County Library. He was also the president of the Community Planning Council and was chairman of the United Way in 1978. In addition to serving on Multimedia's corporate board of directors, he was a member of the board and chairman of the audit committee of Greenville's First Savings Bank. He married the former Nancy Hall of Atlanta in 1953. Surviving, in addition to his wife, are a daughter, Elizabeth Vaughan Overman of Greenville; three sons, Rhea Taliaferro Eskew, Jr. of Medfield, MA, Tucker Alexander Eskew of Alexandria, VA, and Hall Edward Eskew of Johns Island; eight grandchildren, including two sets of twin boys; and a brother, Robert E. Eskew, Austell, GA. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Buncombe Street United Methodist Church, 200 Buncombe Street, Greenville, SC 29601; United Way of Greenville County, 105 Edinburgh Court, Greenville, SC 29607; or the charity of one's choice. A memorial service will be held Thursday, May 29, 2008 at 11 a.m. in the Chapel at Buncombe Street United Methodist Church. The family will receive friends in the church parlor following the service. The committal service will be private. The family will be at the residence.