John Carroll Rushing

J. CARROLL RUSHING, age 84, died peacefully in his sleep of natural causes on Thanksgiving Day, November 26th, 2020 at McCall Hospice House.
Rushing was the founder of EZE Products, Inc., a Greenville-based chemical manufacturing business, and the Rushing Foundation, a Greenville-based private philanthropic foundation. He was also the owner of Custom Manufactured Products (a Greenville-based disposable wipes company); Indusa Global, LLC (a Caribbean-based software development company); and the Caribbean Institute of Technology (“CIT”, a Caribbean-based high tech training center).

In 1992 and 1993, Rushing was a finalist for the South Carolina Entrepreneur of the Year Award in manufacturing and, in 1998, was recognized as Entrepreneur of the Year by the Society of International Business Fellows, a business organization where he formerly presided as Chair in 2001 and 2002. He also formerly served on the Boards of the Greenville Technical College Foundation, the Greenville Country Club, the Greenville Commerce Club, and the MUSC Heart & Vascular Center.

Rushing was also a former Trustee for Furman University. He was a generous philanthropist who contributed to numerous charitable organizations including the United Way, the American Cancer Society, the American Diabetes Association, the Greenville Little Theater, Furman University, and the Memorial College Education Fund for the Children of FBI Agents Killed in the Line of Duty.

During his lifetime, Rushing created several hundred jobs in Greenville, Atlanta, and throughout the United States. Rushing was a chemical engineer, inventor, and scientist, who held several patents; one of which revolutionized the production of paper throughout the world.

One of Rushing’s passions was giving back to others through enhanced educational initiatives. He often stated that one of his biggest accomplishments was educating young students in computer software technology at CIT in Jamaica, which enhanced their potential for quality careers in developing nations throughout the Caribbean.

Born and raised in Savannah, Georgia, Rushing was raised by his mother, Frances Barnes Rushing, and his grandmother, Missouri Deal Barnes. He attended Savannah High School where he was an All-City and All-Region running back. He also was the third baseman on the American Legion Baseball Team which won the 1953 Georgia State Championship. He attended South Georgia Junior College on an athletic scholarship where he played both football and baseball. Then, he transferred to Southern Technical Institute where he received a chemical engineering degree in 1957. He was an avid golfer, who, in addition to winning several pro-amateur and member-guest golf tournaments, obtained his ninth and final “hole in one” while in his 70s.

Rushing loved life and left the world a better place than he found it. A month before his passing, though wheelchair-bound and limited in mobility, Rushing told his family with a smile and a twinkle in his eye, “I was one of the winningest dogs in the race”.

Rushing will be missed by his family and friends. He is survived by two daughters, one son, a brother, his former wife (who is the mother of his four children), and a close companion. Due to Covid-19, the family will delay services until October 2021, at which time his family and friends will be invited to join a celebration of his remarkable life. Rushing was a member of the First Baptist Church of Greenville and has now joined his beloved mother, Frances, his grandmother, “Momee”, and his oldest son, “Bubba”, whose deaths preceded him.