South Carolina lowers flags to half-staff in honor of Chadwick Boseman
Flags atop the Statehouse in South Carolina, the state where “Black Panther” star Chadwick Boseman was born and raised, were lowered to half-staff at sunrise Sunday in memory of the Marvel superhero who died of cancer at the age of 43 on Friday.
“To honor the life, contributions and memory of a truly extraordinary son of South Carolina @chadwickboseman — I have ordered the flags atop the Statehouse to be lowered to half-staff ... from sunrise to sunset,” Gov. Henry McMaster wrote in a tweet Saturday.
The actor died at his home in the Los Angeles area with his family by his side.
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“A true fighter, Chadwick persevered through it all, and brought you many of the films you have come to love so much,” his family said in a statement after his death. “From 'Marshall' to 'Da 5 Bloods,' August Wilson’s 'Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom' and several more — all were filmed during and between countless surgeries and chemotherapy. It was the honor of his career to bring King T’Challa to life in 'Black Panther'.”
Boseman had been diagnosed with stage-3 colon cancer in 2016 and it later progressed to state 4. While he didn’t disclose his illness, he visited children with cancer in September 2018.
“It’s not every day that St. Jude gets a visit from an Avenger! Thank you @ChadwickBoseman for stopping by to bring joy to our patients and learn more about our lifesaving mission!” St. Jude Children’s Hospital tweeted on Sept 12. 2018.
“Two years ago, Chadwick visited the St. Jude campus and brought with him not only toys for our patients but also joy, courage and inspiration. Our thoughts are with his family and friends at this time,” the hospital said in the post, according to NBC News. “We are deeply saddened to hear of the passing of our friend Chadwick Boseman.”
Josh Gad, who co-starred with Boseman in the 2017 Thurgood Marshall biopic “Marshall,” shared the text of his final message from the late actor.
“If you are in Los Angeles, you woke up this morning to the rare and peaceful sound of steady precipitation. If you’re like me, maybe you looked at the week’s forecast and found that it’s supposed to rain for three straight days; not without breaks of sunlight and reprieves of moist gloom, but yeah it’s gonna be coming down like cats and dog,” Boseman wrote, according to the People magazine.
“We should take advantage of every moment we can to enjoy the simplicity of God’s creation, whether it be clear skies and sun or clouded over with gloom,” the late actor wrote. “And hey, if the air is this clear right now, and it does rain tomorrow, I might even put jars and bins out and catch the rain. Throw that in the water filter and I have a water more alkaline than any bottled brand out there.”
Boseman advised Gad to “inhale and exhale this moment” and “thank God for the unique beauties and wonders of the day.”
In 2018, Boseman’s childhood Pastor Samuel Neely, spoke about his faith.
“Even though he plays these different people, I still see the person I knew as a child. When I see him, it’s almost like seeing my own child, he’s still Chad,” said Neely, who retired from Welfare Baptist Church in Anderson, South Carolina. “He’s always been a focused guy, he knew what he wanted and he was going after it.”
Neely added, “He did a lot of positive things within the church and within the community. With him singing in the choir, with him working the youth group, he always was doing something, always helping out, always serving. That was his personality.”
