William J. McCord 1932- 2007

William J. "Jerry" McCord, the first and longest- serving director of South Carolina's state alcohol and drug abuse authority, has died at age 75 following a lengthy illness.

Hired in 1959 as the first full- time professional employed by the South Carolina Alcoholic Rehabilitation Program, McCord was named director of the agency when it was redesignated as the South Carolina Commission on Alcoholism in 1966. He continued at the helm of the agency until 1995, serving under six governors, including Governor Carroll M. Campbell Jr. who appointed McCord to the post after the agency was renamed the Department of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Services (DAODAS) and made a cabinet- level agency in 1993.

"Our field has truly lost a pioneer and a visionary with the death of Jerry McCord," said W. Lee Catoe, current director of DAODAS, "and the citizens of South Carolina have lost a great leader and friend. We all owe him a debt of gratitude for the years he spent fighting for a cause he truly believed in - helping his fellow man live life to its fullest, free of the problems caused by the use of alcohol or other drugs."

McCord, a native of Manning, S.C., began his career with a secretary and an initial state investment of only $20,000 with which he was charged with developing the state's response to the problem of alcoholism. From this austere beginning, McCord oversaw the creation of a statewide system of community- based agencies that provide direct prevention, intervention and treatment services to the citizens in all 46 counties of the state - a system that has been recognized over the years as one of the best in the nation.

"As we have worked to save both lives and money," McCord said at the time of his retirement in 1995, "we in the public sector have had the privilege of developing the whole continuum of care - starting with prevention as a way of avoiding problems before they begin and ending with treatment for the most chronically addicted. We've seen the miracles of recovery take place within the people we know as our clients. We've seen lives get back together and families get back together and communities get healthy. And that's certainly something to be proud of."