About Laurie
Laurie Slade Funderburk was born into a family that values hard work, a good education, and a love of life. That combination of characteristics has guided Laurie as she has taken on a variety of roles in her life, including the following:
Public Servant:
Laurie was elected to the South Carolina House of Representatives, District 52, in June 2004, to fill the unexpired term of Vincent Sheheen. She was re-elected to a full term in November 2004, and serves on the Agriculture, Natural Resources & Environmental Affairs Committee. In addition, Laurie currently serves as a Whip for the House Democratic Caucus. She is Secretary to both the House Rural Caucus and the Sportsman's Caucus and is a member of the SC General Assembly Women's Caucus and the SC New Statesmen Society.
Prior to her election, Laurie was a member of the City of Camden Planning & Zoning Commission. Currently, she serves as a board member of the Santee-Lynches Regional Council of Governments and as State Director of Women in Government. Laurie served on the steering committee that created the SC Food Policy Council and continues to serve that organization as a member of its board.
Community Leader:
In 2006, Laurie was selected to be among the twenty members of the Liberty Fellowship Class of 2008. A statewide leadership initiative, the Liberty Fellowship seeks to bring together South Carolina’s next generation of leaders to cultivate their skills and values so that they will become significant contributors to the state, and to society at large.
In 2005, Laurie co-founded the Kershaw County Farmer’s Market. She also is a board member of the Carolina Cup Racing Association & National Steeplechase Museum. She has served the Camden Cup Polo Tournament in several capacities, including co-chair in 2003.
Laurie has shown commitment to the arts through her service as President of the Camden Community Theatre, 2000-2004, during which time she produced five plays. As Secretary of the Board of Directors of the Fine Arts Center of Kershaw County, she put her legal expertise to good use in revising the Board’s by-laws.
Laurie is a member of the Camden Rotary Club, Kershaw County Community Medical Clinic, Kershaw County Junior Leadership Steering Committee, Kershaw County Chamber of Commerce, Kershaw County Forest Landowners Association, and Kershaw County Master Gardeners.
Member of the Legal Profession:
While attending law school in Columbia, Laurie served as a Law Clerk to the South Carolina Senate Judiciary Committee, for which she researched legislation, reviewed judicial candidates for the Judicial Merit Selection Commission, and performed constituent services.
In May 2001, Laurie received her Juris Doctor degree from the University of South Carolina School of Law, and she was admitted to South Carolina Bar in November 2001. She completed the Family Court Mediation Certification Training Program in July 2003, and was admitted to the United States District Court for South Carolina in 2004 and the United States Supreme Court in 2006.
Laurie started practicing law locally in 2003, and since January 2005 has emphasized real estate and probate law in her own independent law firm.
Laurie is a member of the South Carolina Bar Association, South Carolina Women Lawyers Association, and the Kershaw County Bar Association, of which she served as President in 2004.
Music Lover and Scholar:
From an early age, Laurie and her older brother, Robert, were exposed to music. Her mother played the piano, and her father was choir director at the church they attended. Laurie learned to play the piano, violin, and oboe, and was a member of her high school marching band.
That early exposure to church music contributed to the direction she took in college, as she graduated magna cum laude with honors from the University of South Carolina in 1997, with degrees in Art History and Religious Studies. At USC, she was a member of Phi Beta Kappa.
Music remains an important part of Laurie’s life. She particularly enjoys attending concerts of the South Carolina Philharmonic Orchestra, for which her brother plays bass trombone.
Farm Girl:
Laurie’s first home was about seven miles north of Camden in the rural community of Shamokin. She and her brother were blessed to be members of an extended family, including a grandfather and grandmother who gave her an abiding love for rural life and a respect for hard work. On their farm, Laurie learned to bale hay; plant and tend a garden; clean fish; cut, haul, and stack fire wood; and take the cows to market.
She also developed a love of fried fish with grits, ripe tomato slices, pan-fried cornbread, and watermelon cut in wedges and eaten under the oak tree. Laurie’s father continues to raise chickens and supplies his family with farm fresh eggs.
Wife and Mother:
Laurie and Bill met in Sunday School because a mutual friend was teaching the class. They were married four years later, in 1999. They live in Camden and enjoy movies, reading, and food. Bill is General Counsel of the Employment Security Commission and an adjunct Professor of English for USC. Laurie and Bill welcomed a son, Slade Horton Funderburk, into their family on November 13, 2006.
