Diane Bitzer

My current job title is "Retired". My career was with the City of Clemson, SC, for the years 1976-2016. This was including 30 years of full-time, and 10 years part-time employment. I began as a Water Billing Clerk in Clemson Depot Building which is Where City Hall was located in February of 1976. We moved into the brand new Clemson City Hall on Hwy. 123 in 1989. The City Clerk position came available in the fall of 1976; I applied for the job and was appointed to it by Clemson City Council. It was a career I loved; you never had two days the same. I retired from that position in 2006; and subsequently was appointed the City Records Manager, a part-time position. I retired completely from the City in 2016.


My family consists of my husband, Jerry; and we had two sons. We lived in Clemson until 1989; then built a home in Central where we currently reside. Mike is our oldest son and is a Professor at Catawba College. He lives with his wife, Andrea, and son Drew in Salisbury, NC. Drew has just become a freshman at Roanoke College in Roanoke, VA. Our other son David, had a career as a welder. He passed away in 2020 at age 49 from cancer.


The Mayor of Clemson in 1976 was Catherine Smith. She loved Clemson and did a fantastic job as Mayor. She became quite involved with the Clemson Chamber of Commerce and held many positions in the Chamber. She got me involved in Chamber activities around 1980, and I was one of the first "Ambassadors" we had. Our assignment was to visit new businesses, answer any questions they had, and encourage their membership in the Chamber.


I had talked to Clemson City Administrator Andy Blondeau expressing an interest I had of serving on the Board of Directors of the Clemson Chamber. I attended a few meetings and was voted on for membership on the Board in the fall of 2023.


The need to expand the size of the Board, and for an executive to lead the organization were this past year's objectives for the Board to consider. I'm happy to say our Board is expanded to 21 members who are from Clemson, Pendleton, Central and Six Mile, and we have hired Bryan Lee as our President. Under his leadership and with a supportive staff, I'm happy to say I see this organization headed in a positive and productive direction in the future.