Johnita Lindsay

Johnita Horton Lindsay Obituary - September 13, 1928 - September 16, 2026

Johnita (“Nita”) Horton Lindsay, 98, formerly of Bennettsville, S.C., died peacefully at her home on September 16, 2026, at The Retreat Assisted Living of Beaufort in Beaufort, S.C., where she lived for the last 8 years.

She is the daughter of the late Robert Simeon Horton and Elizabeth (“Bessie”) Irene Davis Horton of Clinton, S.C. She is preceded in death by her 8 siblings: Brunelle Chandler, Louise Spratt, Frances Oxley, Dorothy Riddle, Virginia Horton, James Horton, Horace Horton, and William Horton.

She is also preceded in death by her husband of 73 years, Richard (“Dick”) Tatum Lindsay, a native of Bennettsville, S.C. She is survived by her 3 children, Richard Lindsay, Jr., of Spartanburg, Kathy Lindsay (Ian Hill) of Beaufort, and Robert Lindsay (Kathryn) of Cullowhee, N.C. She is also survived by her 3 granddaughters, Leigh Tatum Lindsay, Tatum Lindsay Albertine (“Alex”) and Laura Lindsay, a great granddaughter Margaret Albertine, 13 nieces and nephews, and numerous great nieces and nephews.

Nita was born in 1928, the youngest of 8 children, on a family farm in the upstate of South Carolina at the brink of the Great Depression. She always said that she did not realize they were poor because she was surrounded by a large loving family, abundant home-grown food, church going, and neighbors who were all in the same boat. Her parents and older siblings worked the land, and her mother had large gardens and fruit orchards from which she canned, baked and served enormous family meals. She was a talented seamstress who collected Shirley Temple pictures in magazines, after which she created her own patterns for these dresses by lying Nita on the floor on newspapers to trace her shape. Her older siblings were each assigned a younger child to iron dresses, comb hair and tie ribbons, and get each younger one ready for church on Sundays. Nita’s special brother for this task was Horace. This began Nita’s love of beautiful clothes, and she became a talented seamstress herself. She loved roaming the farm fields and playing in the farm’s creek. She attended a one-room, country school house until she enrolled in Clinton High School where she graduated at the top of her class.

She was educated at Winthrop College, receiving a two-year business degree, after which she returned to Clinton to work in the president’s office at Presbyterian College. There she met a charismatic and handsome student athlete, Dick Lindsay, who was a returning World War II naval veteran. They married while Dick was still in college, and they eventually returned to Bennettsville to raise their 3 children. They owned and jointly operated the Lindsay Insurance Agency for many years and she became an astute business person. She and Dick loved to dance and they belonged to 3 formal dance clubs. They were members of the First United Methodist Church in Bennettsville.

After her children were educated, she and Dick began travelling the world which she loved. She took up tennis at age 50 and became a dedicated player. When she and Dick sold their insurance agency, they split their retirement time between Connestee Falls, N.C., and Garden City Beach, S.C. Nita loved her screen porch overlooking the mountains and lake, and her ocean-front sunshine view at the beach. But most of all, she loved being surrounded by and in beautiful nature. She adored her family, lovely clothes, and old houses and furniture. She was instrumental in working with the Jennings Brown House Museum, in Bennettsville. Nita was a talented and creative floral designer, often “doing” the flowers for friends, parties, and weddings, preferring to work with wildflowers, native greenery and grasses, and home-grown country flowers.

Nita will leave the world a less beautiful place.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Marlboro Historical and Cultural Alliance, P.O. Box 178, Bennettsville, SC 29512, earmarked for the Jennings Brown House.