Family of Slain Eastside Couple Grieves a Second Time

It's the second time in recent weeks that Robert Dye of Easley has had to sit down and talk to his teenage son, Rob, about death.

A few weeks ago, it was a talk about Rob's friend, Daniel Smith.

Smith, along with his mother, Sandra Smith Thomas, was killed in a .

But on Wednesday, the conversation was much more difficult. Dye and his wife, Lane Wells Dye, had to try to explain to their two children, Rob and his sister Bonnie, that "Mimi" and "Papa" were dead.

"Love your family. Hold them dear," Lane said Thursday as she tearfully flipped through family photographs.

The Greenville County Sheriff's Office is investigating the couple's deaths.

"It has been two doses of horror," Dye said. "It's a conversation we never wanted to have with our children."

Longtime members of Taylors First Baptist Church, the Wellses were "salt of the earth" people, according to their son-in-law.

"They were good people. Nobody's perfect, but they were perfect grandparents," Dye said. "They spent a lot of time being grandparents."

Dye said that Gary Wells, a retired employee at John D. Hollingsworth Company, still sold textiles, even after his retirement. The couple had two daughters, Lane of Easley and Dawn Wells of Greenville, and two grandchildren, Bonnie and Rob.

The couple enjoyed going out with friends and participating in church activities. Gary Wells was an avid fisherman, while Helen enjoyed working around the home, cooking and working in the yard.

"I remember my father-in-law teaching my son how to fish," Robert Dye said. "They had a big bond there."

Dye said that Gary Wells had planned to take his grandson, Rob, on a fishing trip in Florida in December and that he had already purchased the airline tickets.

"He was very excited about that," Dye said.

Over the years, Dye said, he and his father-in-law had become good friends, at times going to football games together or even just out to lunch to talk man-to-man.

"I appreciated that," Dye said. "At the same time he tried to mentor me, he treated me with a lot of respect. He would always give me advice and then say, 'Of course, I know you are your own man.'"

Dye said that one thing he would always be grateful for was the way in which his mother-in-law and father-in-law loved their grandchildren.

"They took a lot of interest in the children's well-being, encouraged them to be good students, to go far in life," Dye said. "They were good role models, good Christian people."

Dye said his daughter, Bonnie, loves to sing. He said one summer his father-in-law decided to enroll Bonnie in singing lessons. He said Gary Wells would drive over to Easley pick Bonnie up, take her to her lessons, to lunch and then bring her back home.

"They just couldn't do enough for their family," Dye said. "They were constantly looking at ways to be more involved in their lives."

Funeral arrangements are incomplete at this time and will be announced later by Mackey Mortuary in Greenville.

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