George Gayle

Gayle was born on Oct. 2, 1926 in Tuscaloosa and spent the first few years of his life there before moving to Birmingham where he attended Ramsey High. He enlisted in the United States Marine Corps 12 days after his 18th birthday on Oct. 14, 1944. He spent the next several months at Marine Corps Recruit Depot, Parris Island (S.C.) and Camp Lejeune (N.C.) in training to become a forward observer in the artillery’s Separation Battalion before he was stationed in Hawaii for the remaining few months of the war.

He was discharged in August, 1946 as a private first class but spent the next four years with the Marine Corps Reserves before ending his service in December, 1949.

He operated a clock repair shop briefly before joining Tom Houston Peanut Company in 1948. He would spend the next 10 years with Tom’s, primarily in charge of opening new accounts throughout the country before taking over his own distributorship in Montgomery in 1958.

From there, he expanded Montgomery Sales Company to one of the River Region’s most successful snack food companies, reaching seven counties in central Alabama. He introduced the area to the industry’s first chip machine and the first electric snack machine before parting ways with Tom’s in 1972 and continuing the company as an independent snack food distributor. He retired from day-to-day operations in the mid-1990s but continued to run the financial aspects of the business up until his death.

He became an advocate for vending machine operators in the state, especially in regard to licensing fees and taxation at the state and local level, which led to a campaign for Montgomery mayor in 1977.

After he stepped down from the daily rigors of running the business, he became interested in heritage groups and genealogy as he marked the grave of his father and attempted to locate the grave of his grandfather. That led to him joining the Sons of Confederate Veterans in 1991 and the Sons of the American Revolution in 1993.

He was an ardent supporter of SCV Camp 692 (Cradle of the Confederacy) and became its commander in 1995. Under his 21-year leadership, the camp was recognized as the “Camp of the Year” in 1997 and he was recognized as the “Compatriot of the Year” in 1999. His newsletters earned awards in 2004, 2013 and 2015. In 2001, he was one of the chief promoters behind the renovation of the Confederate Monument on the Capitol grounds.

As an active member of the SAR’s Gen. Richard Montgomery chapter, he became the chapter vice-president in 1995, chapter president in 1996, state genealogist in 1997 and the chapter treasurer in 1998-2011. In 2002, he was the architect of a proclamation signed by then-Gov. Don Siegelman that proclaimed every April 19 as “Patriot Day” to honor our Revolutionary War ancestors.

He was also a member of the Civil War Preservation Trust, the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the American Legion. As a lifelong Mason, he was honored by the Grand Lodge of Alabama in 2007 for 50 years of service as a member of Oak Park Lodge F&AM No. 864.

In 2000, he was appointed by Siegelman to the state’s Bureau of Tourism and Travel advisory board, where he served for eight years as an advocate of the state’s Civil War sites.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Langworthy Caleb and Leila (Glass), brothers Charlie and Foy and sister Olga. Survivors include his wife of 65 years, Tommie (Martin), sons George Jr., John and Tim, daughter Wendy (Cale), 10 grandchildren and several great grandchildren.

Pallbearers included Jeremy Ziegler, Hunter Gayle, Andrew Gayle, Tim Gayle, John Gayle and George Gayle Jr.

Visitation will be held at Leak-Memory Chapel on Friday from 5-7 p.m. Services will be held on Saturday at 10 a.m. at Leak-Memory Chapel with Dr. John Killian officiating. Interment will follow at Greenwood Cemetery.