Mack Gerald
Fleming, 80, of Seneca, S.C., husband of Elizabeth “Libby”
McClellan Fleming, died Friday, June 8, 2012, at Cottingham
Hospice House.
Born in Hart County, GA, on May 3, 1932, Mack grew up in
Anderson, S.C. He was the son of the late Mack Judson
Fleming and Dessie Leola Vickery. As a boy, Mack inserted
comics in the Anderson Independent on Saturday nights, and
he worked as a printer at the Independent during his senior
year at Boy’s High School.
With the help of friends and Abney Mill, where his father
worked, Mack received a partial scholarship to attend
Clemson University, where he majored in Textile
Manufacturing. At Clemson, he became a manager with the
football team.
After earning his degree in 1956, Mack received his
commission as a 2nd Lieutenant, Second Armored Division,
with the U.S. Army, where he served in Germany for two
years. Following service, he worked in the quality control
department at Woodside Mills.
In 1960, he accepted a job with the U. S. Patent Office, but
after only one-and-one-half weeks on the job, he began
working as the Administrative Assistant for Congressman
William Jennings Bryan Dorn of S.C. While working for
Congressman Dorn, Mack met and married his wife, Libby, on
March 30, 1963. During his time with the Congressman, Mack
entered the Washington College of Law, American University,
in Washington, D.C., where he received his law degree in
1966.
From 1965 through 1967, Mack served as Director of the
Congressional Liaison Service of the Veterans Administration
in Washington, D.C., where he was assigned to the White
House as an Advance Man for President Lyndon Johnson. He
continued his service with the Congressional Liaison Office
until President Johnson announced he would not run for a
second term.
Then for five years, Mack worked in private practice of law
in Washington, D.C. In 1974, at the age of 42, Mack became
Chief Counsel for the Committee on Veterans Affairs in the
U.S. House of Representatives. Four years later he became
Staff Director and Chief Counsel, where he served a total of
twenty-one years with the Committee. During his tenure, the
Committee drafted many major legislative acts, including the
The Montgomery GI Bill, the establishment of U.S. Court of
Veterans Appeals, and the elevation of the Veterans
Administration to the Cabinet-level position of the
Department of Veterans Affairs.
In 1995, Mack retired, and he and Libby moved back to Seneca
S.C. to care for Libby’s father and be near Mack’s family.
However, Mack continued to work during his retirement. He
was appointed by Congress to the Commission on
Servicemembers and Veterans Transition Assistance in
Washington, D.C.; by President William Clinton to the World
War II Memorial Advisory Committee in Washington, D.C.; and
by President George W. Bush to the President’s Task Force To
Improve Health Care Delivery For Our Nation’s Veterans. Mack
also served on the Advisory Committee of the Committee on
Legislative Matters for the U. S. Court of Appeals For
Veterans Claims in Washington, D.C., and on the Board of
Counsel for the Dorn Veterans Affairs Research Institute of
the William Jennings Bryan Dorn Department of Veterans
Affairs Medical Center in Columbia, S.C.
Mack is survived by his wife, Libby; daughter, Katharine
“Katie” Lee Carmona and her husband, Paul David Carmona, of
Austin, TX; son John McClellan Fleming and his wife, Candace
Danielle Sigmon Fleming, of Washington, D.C.; and five
grandchildren: Katherine Layne Carmona, Caleb McClellan
Dukes, Joshua David Carmona, Colton Sigmon Fleming, and
Cooper Miller Fleming.
In addition to his parents, Mack was preceded in death by
his brothers, James Homer Fleming and Bobby Meritt Fleming.
A graveside service was held at 12 p.m. on Monday, June 11,
2012, at M.J. “Dolly” Cooper Veterans Cemetery, 140 Inway
Drive, Anderson, S.C.