Rock Hill, SC – Mr. Dennis Wade Partlow, 79, passed away peacefully at his home on Thursday, November 13, 2025.
A Celebration of Life will be held on Saturday, November 22, 2025 at 2:00 pm at St. John’s United Methodist Church, 321 S. Oakland Avenue, Rock Hill, SC 29730 with Reverends Cam Treece and Lee Ann Livingston officiating. Visitation will follow in the Family Life Center.
Dennis is survived by his wife, Susan B. Partlow; his son, Mike Partlow (Kelly) and his daughter, Kelly Powell (Andy); his two grandchildren, Connor Partlow (Avery) and Kate Partlow; and his brother, Gary Partlow (Kathy). He was preceded in death by his parents, Jackson Alfred Partlow and Daisy Boyd Thrailkill Partlow.
A native of Rock Hill, Dennis’ passion for sports began when his parents, built a house across from Confederate Park, a park full of athletic activities. At age 10, he threw a baseball 310 feet in a state competition. He was a Little League and Pony League All-Star. He played City league and church league basketball. He also was a member of the City swim team.
During high school, Dennis earned ten athletic letters in football, basketball, track and tennis. He made the All-Area team in football and basketball. He also was an alternate to the North-South game in football and basketball. He held several offices at Rock Hill High School and his senior year he was selected to Boy’s State and voted Mr. Bearcat. Dennis received several offers to college and chose Erskine College where he walked-on in basketball and baseball.
Following graduation, he returned to Rock Hill High School as an Assistant Coach in football, basketball and track. The following year, he was named as Head baseball coach. This team was 25-3 and was runner-up in the Class 4-A Championship.
He later entered the sporting goods business. He ran Print Two screen printing where he designed, developed and distributed a numbering machine which is still used today. If you wore a jersey in the past 50 years with a number of it, it was probably printed on a Partlow Numbering Machine.
Dennis was totally involved in the community. He became a broadcaster for WRHI covering Rock Hill High and Northwestern football games. He did play-by-play for the first Winthrop Eagles game, later broadcasting games on CN2. At the same time, he became a youth league coach in football, basketball and baseball. He also coached Gray-Y Football All-Stars to nine consecutive State Championship games winning four.
Dennis was a two-term member of the YMCA Board of Directors. He was responsible for both T-Ball and Buddy Basketball. He chaired a committee for the City of Rock Hill that wrote the ethics by-laws for youth coaches and was a member of the Winthrop Eagle Board of Directors. He served as President of the Teens Under Fire Program and was a member of the York County Sports Hall of Fame and the WRHI Wall of Fame. He was the owner of Slo Smokin’ BBQ and Catering.
He and his family are life-long members of St. John’s United Methodist Church where he later served as a full-time director of their Family Life Center.
Over the years, Dennis was able to meet many sports stars such as Bear Bryant, Lou Holtz, Bart Starr, Brooks Robinson and others which just added to the great life that he lived.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made in memory of Dennis to St. John’s United Methodist Church, 321 S. Oakland Avenue, Rock Hill, SC 29730.
Condolences may be made to the Partlow family at www.greenefuneralhome.net.