grand jury, because I'd come kill him right then...I said, 'Now you just remember, whether you do it or anybody else does it, I’m going to get four of you before daylight.'...Boy, they were careful about us after that, because they knew I meant it – and I did." However, despite the threats, she also noted, "In the long run, there are more good people than bad people...This is a good state. It’s a nice place to live. Of all the places we’ve been, this is the best." West adopted physical fitness and health advocacy as the cornerstone of her tenure as First Lady from 1971 to 1975. She focused much of her work on the importance of physical education. John West was appointed the United States Ambassador to Saudi Arabia from 1977 to 1981. Lois West accompanied with him to Saudi Arabia during his tenure. The Wests became some of the first major donors to her alma mater, Winthrop University. Both were active in the transition to a coeducational institution during the 1970s. During the 1980s, the family established the Lois Rhame West Scholars program, which provided full scholarships to South Carolina residents. The university awarded her a Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters in 1984. Lois West served on the national board of directors for the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) for forty years. Her tenure on the board included two terms as the first female president of the Muscular Dystropy Association. She was also a leader in both the state Cub Scouts and the Girl Scouts. In 1998, Lois West and former Governor Carroll Campbell became the co-chairs of Winthrop University's first capital campaign. Under West and Campbell, the campaign brought in more than $30 million, which was utilized for research programs, scholarships, and improvements to the school's academic majors. She was honored as a "Distinguished Alumni in Physical Education" in 2001. In 2007, the university opened the Lois Rhame West Health, Physical Education and Wellness Center, the school's first LEED certified green building. Named in West's honor, the building houses the offices for several major programs of study, including the departments of physical therapy, sports management, and Sport and Human Performance. Her husband of 61 years, former Governor and Ambassador John C. West, died in 2004. Lois West died at her home in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, on May 6, 2014, at the age of 92. Her