MINIS COLUMN: Disabilities specialist had giving spirit

Renee Carr was the type of sister many dream of having. But her sister, Wendy Carr, never had to dream. She cannot imagine having had a better sister if she tried. Her sister's loving spirit resulted in so many good things.

Choosing a favorite charitable thing Renee Carr did for her is difficult.

But there is one expression of Renee Carr's generous nature for which Wendy Carr will be eternally grateful.

"I have a set of twins, and I can honestly tell you that if it was not for my sister being there day and night to help me, I don't know what I would have done. They were both asthmatic. They were in and out of the hospital. If one baby was being discharged, Renee would take that one home with her."

Her help with the babies extended to daily tasks, such as feedings, too.

"It's hard to feed two babies," says Wendy Carr. "Whenever I could not handle it, she was there. She came in like a hero."

Renee Carr, born Sept. 27, 1956, was a rehabilitation specialist training adults with special needs for employment. The Disabilities Board of Charleston County employee died Sept. 7. For Renee Carr, who graduated from St. Augustine College in North Carolina with a social work degree, helping those she trained didn't end with the workday. She routinely continued helping after work and on weekends.

And when she wasn't helping them, she was helping somebody else.

"Always, her hobby has been helping others," Wendy Carr says. "Renee never turned anyone down."

Jennifer Fludd, the program manager who supervised Renee Carr at the disabilities board, worked with her for 29 years.

"There are very few people that you know of who love their jobs so much," says Fludd.

Renee Carr was very concerned about those she trained, got along well with their parents and had a fine reputation with the businesses the disabilities board deals with, Fludd says.

If a person she was training wanted to dance, she would dance with them, Fludd says. If one of them started singing a song on the radio that she liked, she would turn up the radio and sing along. If they had a limited amount of clothing, she would bring them clothes. She would stop by the homes of those who had left the agency just to check up on how they were doing.

"Nobody knew those things except the people who worked around here," Fludd says. "Whether you knew her one day or 10 years, you would get a welcoming smile. She was just a very loving person. And she was so dedicated to the agency. She really was."