He would maintain the function as third-in-command on the faculty for eight years.
When he instructed the college’s board of holiday makers he was stepping down, he mentioned he had achieved what he got here to do — assist women and men cadets coexist on the faculty.
“I feel I made a small difference in the life of The Citadel,” Mace mentioned in 2005 when asserting his retirement.
That 12 months, when state lawmakers recognized Mace for his contributions on the state’s army faculty, the decision famous that underneath his management some 95 ladies had graduated from the Corps of Cadets.
The 12 months Mace retired as commandant, the 1,900-member physique included about 120 ladies.
In an April 16 assertion, Citadel President Gen. Glenn Walters famous Mace led “our cadets and community through a period of tremendous change.”
“He was a model Citadel officer and he will be greatly missed. On behalf of The Citadel, Gail and I offer our deepest condolences to his entire family on his passing,” he mentioned.
Born in Hampton County, Mace attended The Citadel and earned the nickname “Bulldog.” He graduated in 1963.
He turned one thing of a residing legend. In her memoir, Nancy Mace wrote that her father constructed a near-mythic repute at The Citadel for his excessive backwoods antics, together with poaching alligators to pay for college and utilizing them to intimidate freshmen.
In one story, he allegedly threw a stay alligator right into a cadet’s room to make a degree about self-discipline, whereas in one other, he chained a gator to the parade area in a single day, leaving officers scrambling to take away it the subsequent morning.
The tales, she wrote, cemented his picture as each feared and legendary amongst cadets.
The persona he cultivated as a cadet was later strengthened by his report in fight.
U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace talks along with her father James E. Mace at her election watch get together at Patriots Point Links in Mount Pleasant. on Tuesday, June 14, 2022. Andrew J. Whitaker/Staff
He served within the Army for 28 years and retired as an infantry brigadier common. His service in Vietnam made him one of the crucial adorned graduates The Citadel ever produced.
