Reginald W. Gregory

Reginald Wilson Gregory, 88, of Dallas, passed away on Wednesday, February 22, 2017. Reginald was born May 3, 1928 in De Leon, Comanche County, Texas. He was the 3rd and youngest child of Curtis Bryant Gregory Sr. and Viola May Wilson Gregory.

Reginald received his primary and secondary education in De Leon Public Schools. He attended John Tarleton Agricultural College in Stephenville, Texas and graduated from the University of Texas in January of 1949 with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree. He studied in the Graduate School of Business of the University of Texas in 1949, 1954, and 1955. He served as Guest Lecture in Long Term Finance at the University of Texas.

Gregory was a member of the Reserve Officer Training Corp at the University of Texas, served as a Cadet Lt. Col (ranking Air Force ROTC cadet officer), was designated as both a Distinguished Military Student and Distinguished Military Graduate. In June 1949, he was commissioned a 2nd Lt. in the United States Air Force Reserve. He served on active duty during the Korean War with the Far East Air Force. He served with Joint Task Force 132, which conducted the first test of the hydrogen bomb at Eniwetok Atoll in the Pacific Ocean.

On December 15, 1948, Reginald’s welcomed his son, Reginald Wilson (Skip) Gregory, Jr. into this world and on November 1, 1950 Reginald welcomed his daughter, Anne Gregory into this world.

From June 1949 through May 1964, Merrill Lynch, Pierce Fenner & Smith employed Gregory as an Account Executive in their Austin, Texas office. Among his largest accounts were the Permanent Fund of the University of Texas and the Employees Retirement System of Texas. He was consistently recognized as one of their top financial consultants. In 1958 he was invited to become a stockholder in the firm. He resigned in May 1964 to pursue personal financial interest.

In 1959, Gregory was an organizer of Lamar Savings Institution, Austin, Texas. He subsequently became the controlling stockholder of Lamar as well as First Saving and Loan Association, San Angelo, Texas; Lubbock Savings and Loan Association, Lubbock, Texas; and Home Savings Association of Dallas County Texas.

Gregory sold his ownership in the four Texas and Loan Associations in early 1966. At a neighborhood cocktail party in March 1966, Lyndon B. Johnson, then President of the United States asked Gregory what he was going to do since he had sold his financial institutions. He further suggested that Gregory make a trip throughout Mexico, Central America, and South America to evaluate business opportunities. President Johnson provided the facilities and personnel of the United States Embassy in each country to act as host and introduce Gregory to investment opportunities. Gregory made two such trips visiting all countries from Mexico to Chile. He decided to make a financial investment in a large Mexican bus manufacturing company. In 1966 Gregory moved his residence from Austin Texas to Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. Since 1966 Gregory has maintained a residence in Mexico. From 1966 until 1983 he was engaged in the manufacture of large interstate buses and the distribution of heavy-duty automotive components in Mexico.

In 1973, while driving from Dallas to Guadalajara, Gregory stopped in Austin to purchase tamales from a Swedish lady who was well known in the Austin area for her homemade tamales. She expressed to Gregory her frustration that corn husks were almost impossible to obtain. Their conversation revealed that the recent intervention of the US Food and Drug Administration had virtually cut off the flow of corn husks from Mexico. Gregory told her that he would investigate the issue. On his next trip to Dallas he visited the Regional Director of FDA to seek a solution to the issue of border rejection of Mexican corn husks. The Regional Director was very accommodating. He explained the new standards and arranged for the Director of the Regional Laboratory to conduct some lab test of the corn husks in his presence so that he could personally observe the procedure. Gregory returned to Mexico and contacted one of the largest producers of corn husks, in Mexico, to discuss the situation. From these meetings grew a friendship and business relationship. Gregory was marginally involved in the corn husk industry in assisting several Mexican producers to bring their product into compliance with USA FDA requirements. Gregory observed a corn husk industry that was highly fragmented and very inefficient. Each level occasioned expenses and a margin of profit. Worst of all the multiple levels of distribution made responsibility for quality control virtually impossible.

In 1977, Gregory decided to enter into the distribution of corn husks, in the United States. He would contract for the production of corn husks by a select group of people, who harvested the corn and operated rural processing plants. The corn husks would then be distributed directly to Mexican restaurants and Mexican food processors in the United States. Sales were generated by periodic direct mail contact with corn husk users. Gregory’s operation provided a higher quality product at a lower price. The business grew dramatically.

On March 4, 1978, Reginald married the love of his life, Ida Elaine Schroller Hoff, a Reservation Agent with Delta Air Lines and daughter of Leo Schroller and Eunice Rogers Schroller of Pawnee, Texas. They were married at Arapaho United Methodist Church in Richardson Texas, and followed with a glorious honeymoon in Spain. Reginald and Elaine were a widely-traveled couple, enjoying life to the fullest. They were blessed to share nearly 39 years of blissful marriage.

In 1987 the USA FDA decided to enforce higher quality standards for corn husks. Overnight, the flow from Mexico was virtually shut off. The FDA decided to implement a program of automatic detention of all corn husks entering the country until lab exam indicated that samples taken from each shipment in fact met their standards. Virtually all corn husks failed to pass the test.

Gregory conceived his REDI-PAK OPTIMA® corn husks for tamales. Each corn husk would be usable and available in four sizes. The tamale producer could buy exactly the size they needed for their tamale and use it without waste or preparation labor. Gregory asked his Mexican suppliers to enforce his new quality standards. They tried, but were unwilling or unable to get their workers to change their old methods of production. Gregory shut down the plants and recovered his assets (trucks, equipment, etc.) that were on loan to his suppliers.

Gregory reopened a pilot operation where a small hand-picked group of dedicated people undertook the production of “The World’s Finest Corn husks for Tamales.” Gregory moved to rural Mexico where the pilot project was operated so that he could be in daily touch with its progress. Each person was assigned a number, which was entered and tagged on their work. Everyone was personally responsible for their product. The project was successful and Gregory started shipping small quantities of his REDI-PAK OPTIMA® into the United States. USA customs, FDA, and USDA inspectors were astonished at their cleanliness and quality.

The success of project was confirmed when in 1991 the USA Food and Drug Administration issued to R. W. Gregory a written order exempting a written order exempting him from the required automatic detention and laboratory examination of his corn husks. The exemption was based on the proven quality and cleanliness of corn husks produced under his program and supervision.

Gregory opened additional plants and increased production as fast as he could, carefully training additional personnel. In 1993 Gregory contracted with another large corn husk producer to devote his facilities to the production of his REDI-PAC OPTIMA® corn husks under careful observation of Gregory personnel.

In 1995, Elaine retired from Delta Air Lines, after 28 years of service and joined Gregory in his company. She served as President of The R W Gregory Group, Inc. while Reginald served as its Chairman of Board of Directors. The R W Gregory Group, In. consisted of R W Gregory Co, R W Gregory (Mexico), R W Gregory (USA), R W Gregory (East), R W Gregory (West) and Equipocentro, SA de CV.

Today R W Gregory Co ships corn husk to customers in the United States, including Alaska and Hawaii, Virgin Islands, Europe, and Russia. Reginald left behind a legacy and will be dearly missed by his children, family, friends, co-workers, employees, and many more, but most of he will be deeply missed by his best-friend and love, Elaine Gregory.

In lieu of flowers donations can be made to Visiting Nurses Association (VNA) and/or Arapaho United Methodist Church 1400 W. Arapaho Road Richardson, Texas 75080