Mom of Richland Two teacher who died of COVID-19 suffers coronavirus death weeks later
Weeks after her daughter died of COVID-19, Shirley Bannister suffered a coronavirus-related death, officials at Midlands Tech said Sunday.
Bannister’s daughter, Demi Bannister, was a 28-year-old third-grade teacher for Richland County School District Two. Demi Bannister died on Sept. 7 of complications caused by COVID-19, Richland Two spokeswoman Libby Roof said.
Less than three weeks later, the 57-year-old Shirley Bannister died from the coronavirus, Midlands Tech spokesman Kevin Floyd confirmed to The State.
“My heart is broken. Shirley was like an angel on Earth. Her life mission was caring for others,” Midlands Tech President Dr. Ronald Rhames said in a news release. “While her death is devastating, her impact is everlasting. The entire MTC family offer her family support and our prayers.”
Like her daughter, Shirley Bannister was a teacher.
Shirley Bannister was the chair of the nursing department at Midlands Tech, where she taught the Fundamentals of Nursing at the college’s Airport Campus. She had been at Midlands Tech for the past seven years, and has worked in gerontology for 30 years, according to Floyd.
Even before she was personally affected by COVID-19, her job had changed in recent months because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
She was preparing her students for and helping recent graduates deal with the challenges of working as a medical professional in a field that had been altered by the coronavirus, according to the Columbia Regional Business Report.
“She earned her nursing degree from Midlands Technical College as a teen, went on to earn a master’s degree. Shirley eventually returned to MTC to teach nursing and impact the lives of hundreds of future healers in our community as chair of the MTC Nursing Department,” Rhames said.
Shirley Bannister said nursing was her “God-given passion” when she was honored by WIS as community builder in 2019.
The University of South Carolina graduate was recognized as a Palmetto Gold Award Recipient in 2002, and the Sigma Theta Thu award in 2000, according to Midlands Tech.
Her family said Shirley Bannister was hospitalized with COVID-19 days after her daughter’s death, The State previously reported.
Demi Bannister’s parents struggled to find a place that would test them for the coronavirus, despite the fact that they had lived with their daughter while she had COVID-19, Demi’s aunt aunt, Shirley Mills told The State. They kept getting denied because they weren’t showing symptoms, Mills said.
Demi Bannister had just started her third year of teaching third grade at Windsor Elementary on Aug. 31, according to the release. She previously taught fifth grade at the school on Dunbarton Drive in Columbia where she had worked for five years, Roof said.
“Known as Windsor’s Songbird, Ms. Bannister used her musical talents to bring a great deal of joy to our school,” Windsor Elementary Principal Denise Quickel said in the release. “Ms. Bannister loved her students and never missed an opportunity to advocate for students and public education.”
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This story was originally published September 27, 2020 at 12:23 PM.
