State Rep. Walter Lloyd, first elected to the S.C. House of Representatives in 1994, died Thursday night at his home after an extended illness. He was 73.

A retired agricultural consultant for the S.C. Department of Education and a Walterboro Democrat, Lloyd was considered a quiet man, fellow legislators said Friday. But he would speak with authority to support teachers' salaries, rural school funding and heirs property protection.

"He was a strong advocate for the Lowcountry," said Sen. Clementa Pinckney, D-Ridgeland. "Walter would remind me, 'Always take care of the people.'<2009>"

Lloyd died after a battle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig's disease, a progressive neuromuscular disease, according to Colleton County Coroner Rich Harvey.

Pinckney said Lloyd was "a man of long suffering."

"He suffered with grace and with love," Pinckney said.

Lloyd was born Dec. 22, 1931, in Eastover, the son of Irene Goodwin and Willie E. Lloyd Sr.

He graduated from Soutolina State University in 1957 and received his master's degree in education from the school in 1963. He served in the military from 1952-53.

Lloyd retired from the Education Department in 1992 after 35 years as an educator and consultant, then ran for the state House seat.

After his uncontested win for a sixth two-year term in the District 121 seat in November, Lloyd said in January that his priority for the 2005 legislative session would be to fund state schools fully but also restrain the debt that school districts accrue with new facilities.

"It's ridiculous to try to create other schools if you can't fund what you've got," he said.

State Education Superintendent Inez Tenenbaum said Lloyd will be remembered for his dedication to the children of South Carolina.

"He believed education was the future of South Carolina and we, as a state, should invest in knowledge first," she said.

Lloyd's illness had kept him from attending any of this year's legislative session, but legislators remembered his past contributions Friday, consistently noting that he was a man of his word.

While some Columbia legislators look to reshape state law, Lloyd spent his time supporting Lowcountry residents, said Sen. Scott Richardson, R-Hilton Head Island.

"Some guys just dig in hard and help their constituents," Richardson said. "Walter was one of those guys."

Lloyd's family said they would release a statement today.

With his death, Colleton County lost the lone state legislator living within its borders. The county shares five state representatives with Beaufort, Jasper, Charleston, Dorchester, Orangeburg, Berkeley, Hampton and Bamburg counties.

"He was our local representative," said Reves McLeod, executive committee chairman for the Colleton County Democratic Party.

Although final dates have not been determined, state law would put a primary for candidates to fill Lloyd's seat at the end of June and a special election in mid-August, with party filing in each county to begin in two to three weeks.

District 121 includes 5,293 registered voters in southern Colleton County and 8,803 from northern Beaufort County, including Yemassee, Sheldon, most of Burton, Pigeon Point and the part of downtown Beaufort north of North Street and west of Charles Street. Those numbers led Colleton County Republicans and Democrats to say the seat could be taken by a Beaufort County candidate.

"If somebody runs from Beaufort," said Vic Nettles, Colleton's Republican Party executive committee member, "we'll probably lose it."

Services for Lloyd will be determined this weekend. Young Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.