Leigh A. Ringer is a new, recent addition to the McSwain-Evans Funeral Home staff. Leigh has accepted the position of AfterCare Coordinator, and will be focusing her efforts on creating and implementing a comprehensive AfterCare program. This program will assist the caregivers and family members who have lost loved ones through the grieving process by providing information, emotional support, telephone contact, and limited grief counseling as requested by family members.

Leigh is originally from High Point, North Carolina, and completed her undergraduate degree at Columbia College, Columbia. SC in 1984. She worked for several years as the Corporate Art Coordinator at RJR Nabisco, Inc. in Winston-Salem, NC before returning to school at the University of Chapel Hill to obtain her Masters of Social Work degree in 1989. Since that time, she has had the opportunity to work with persons of all ages, backgrounds and socioeconomic levels. She began her social work career as a family therapist, and has worked with children, youth and adults in family, individual, marital and group therapy formats. She has also worked as a medical oncology social worker, which prepared her later for working as a Bereavement Coordinator with Interim Hospice. It was in working with individuals, children and families who were struggling with issues of loss and grief that Leigh felt she had found her niche, and one that she not only finds challenging, but also very rewarding in many ways. Leigh is now a SC Licensed Master of Social Work professional having passed the State Board Exam after moving to SC after years of social work practice in North Carolina as a Certified Clinical Social Worker.

Leigh has also worked as Director of Social Services for RoseCrest Continuing Care Retirement Community in Inman, SC, and while she enjoyed working with senior adults and their families, she still yearned to return to a more specialized area of working with grief and loss issues. She is thrilled to be a part of the professional and service-oriented team at McSwain-Evans Funeral Home, and is looking forward to being able to build a program with the staff that is both innovative and flexible in order to meet the specific needs of each grieving individual and family member.

Leigh relocated to South Carolina in 1999 to marry Cecil Ringer, a native of Newberry, and they reside in Boiling Springs. SC. Both Cecil and Leigh are involved in various ministry opportunities at their church and Leigh enjoys hobbies that include music, reading, swimming. art, and travel. Leigh is excited to be able to work with the quality staff at McSwain-Evans Funeral Home, and is eager to assist and support families in the Newberry area who are experiencing grief from the loss of a loved one.