Monday, July 9, 2012

Walhalla, SC: Woman killed in murder-suicide remembered for dedication to Clemson

— Separate funeral arrangements were announced Sunday for a Walhalla couple who died Friday night in what authorities are calling a murder suicide.

Marge Putnam, 63, and her husband, Aaron D. Putnam, 70, were found shot to death in their kitchen around 7:15 p.m. Friday. Their grandchildren, who heard the shots next door and called 911, found them.

A memorial service for Marge Putnam will be at 2:30 p.m. Tuesday in the chapel of Sandifer Funderal Home. Friends can visit with family from 1 to 2 p.m. before the service.

A memorial service for her husband will be at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday, also at the Sandifer chapel, with Masonic rites.

No further information on arrangements or from the Oconee County coroner's office was available Sunday, though autopsies were scheduled.

In a statement Saturday, Coroner Karl Addis had said a handgun was found lying next to Aaron Putnam. Addis said the husband appeared to have shot Marge Putnam before turning the gun on himself.

Marge Putnam worked at Clemson University as an administrative assistant for the Center for Real Estate Development.

Professor Elaine Worzala, the center's director, said in an email late Sunday that Putnam was a true joy to work with, had a positive attitude, was full of life and would be missed by all of those she knew at Clemson.

Worzala described Putnam as a terrific employee who worked at the real-estate development center for about three years and several other parts of the university in the years before.

"She truly had the Clemson spirit through and through," Worzala wrote. "She believed in One Clemson and was always ready to help and lend a hand."

The case is the first of two probable murder suicides that occurred in Oconee County this past weekend.

A father, William Brian Tippett, and his adopted daughter, Riley Nicole Dyar Tippett, died Saturday evening in the Foxwood Hills community near Westminster.

The Oconee County Sheriff's Office is investigating both cases.

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