FLORENCE, S.C. — Retired S.C. Highway Patrol Capt. James L. Streater, one of the region’s most beloved law enforcement men, died in Florence on Saturday at age 70. In 1968 Streater became South Carolina’s second ever African-American highway patrol officer, and the first in the Pee Dee, working out of Florence in what is now Troop 5. He later worked his way up to the rank of Captain over a career that ran from 1968 to 2001, when he retired. Streater died Saturday morning in Carolina’s Hospital.
He is survived by his wife Calli Streater, of Florence; his son Jon Streater of Atlanta; his daughter Judon Tyles of Atlanta; two grandsons, Jamel Streater and Prophet Tyles of Atlanta; and six of his nine sibilings: Katherine Binns of Patrick, S.C., Theodora Parker of Greensboro, N.C., Ruth Streater of Greensboro, N.C., Loretta McNeal of Chesterfield, S.C., Gladys Sweeny of Cheraw, S.C., and Cynthia Streater of Allendale, S.C.

A wake will be held Friday from 6 to 8 p.m. at Dimery and Rogers on West Sumter Street in Florence. Funeral services are scheduled for 11 a.m. Saturday at Cumberland United Methodist Church on South Coit Street in Florence.