Former Chester County Councilman John Richard Christopher King was born in Chester, SC on June 25, 1976. He is youngest child of the late Honorable Mayor Christopher C. King and Margie Buckson-King. John was educated in the Chester County Public School System, graduating from Chester Senior High School in the spring of 1993. After completing high school, John matriculated and graduated from Morehouse College in Atlanta, GA with a B.A. in Sociology, in May of 1997. Wanting to append to the family business, John received an A.S. in Funeral Service from Gupton-Jones College of Funeral Services in August of 1998, in Decatur, GA. After returning from Atlanta, GA, John relocated to his hometown of Chester, SC where he began a prosperous funeral business and became the youngest person elected to Chester City and County Council. While serving in these elected positions, he also found time to execute his talents of community activism through memberships with various organizations such as: Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Inc., Burning Bush Masonic Lodge 186, Morehouse College Alumni Association, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration Committee, NAACP, and the York Optimus Club. His professional organizational memberships include: the South Carolina Funeral Directors’ and Morticians’ Association, National Funeral Directors’ and Morticians’ Association, the 5th District Funeral Directors’ and Morticians’ Association, the South Carolina Bail Bondsman Association, National Democratic Leadership Conversation, and the York County Democratic Party. In 2005, John opened King Funeral Home in Rock Hill, South Carolina.
John’s political experience has spanned from being involved in student government to being invited to serve on the Advisory Board for Small Businesses. His passion for positive change has been reflected in his previous participation with the Recreation Committee, Properties Committee, Public Safety Committee and One Cent Sales Tax Committee. Having fervor for education, John obtained his Master’s in Education with a concentration in Management in December 2005 from Strayer University, Charlotte, NC. Serving as an Instructor of Locating Information, Math and Valuing Diversity with the Workforce Development Program at York Technical College in Rock Hill, SC, John helps to promote education and increase the skills and abilities of the pupils so that they may obtain gainful employment.
Through observing his father, the first Black Mayor of the City of Chester, SC, campaign for various positions within the state, he learned how to listen to the people of his community, create lasting friendships and fight for equality within society. This is where he first learned the importance of being politically involved and became skilled at using his voice as a mode of influence and change.
John has said that he hopes that his insight and talent would contribute greatly to the growth of the development of younger people, so that they may have an interest in the political arena.
