Wednesday, April 01, 2009

CARL WILSON GREGORY, FUHS 1958




From Mike Johnson on April 3:

Carl Gregory's Memorial Service will be held on April 26th at 12:00 o'clock noon at the Muckenthaler Cultural Center, 1201 West Malvern Avenue, Fullerton California

(The following E mail is from Arky "Mitch" Mitchell ’58 to Mike Johnson ’58.)

Sorry to report we lost a good friend last night. Carl passed away about 7:30 PM Monday March 30th. A memorial service is being planned and I will inform everyone of the time and place when the arrangements are made. His wife Barb thought it would be about two or three weeks from now.

We are all feeling this loss and it is obviously a very sad occasion. I have been very upset the last few months with Carl's struggle and suffering with bone cancer. I kept asking why does this have to happen to the good guys. Now I'm thinking how blessed and fortunate we all are for having Carl in our lives. I think everyone that knew Carl thought of him as a best friend.

Carl's brother Richard sent this biography to Mike Johnson to use for Carl's nomination to the FUHS wall of fame. I enjoyed it and I think all of you will as well.

(Click on "Comments" -below this post-to read the biography.)


Friday, April 3, 2009
Carl Gregory, 68, dies following battle with cancer
CEO and board chairman of Fullerton Community Bank was the descendant of a pioneer family.
By BARBARA GIASONE
The Orange County Register
FULLERTON – Carl Wilson Gregory, CEO and chairman of the board of Fullerton Community Bank, died Monday following a two-year battle with cancer. He was 68.
Plans for a "celebration of life" to be held on the lawn at the Muckenthaler Cultural Center in late April are pending, his wife, Barbara, said Friday.
Gregory, born in Fullerton, was the great-grandson of William Schulte, who relocated from the gold fields of Northern California to Fullerton where he promoted the founding of Fullerton Union High School.
Gregory's grandfather, R.S. Gregory, laid out and subdivided land surrounding and including FUHS. He also served as the mayor of Fullerton in the 1920s and postmaster in the 1930s and 1940s.
His father, R. Merrill Gregory, was president and chairman of Fullerton Savings and Loan – later Fullerton Community Bank, which now has eight branches in Orange County.
While serving in the Navy, Carl Gregory was a psychological warfare officer whose job was to devise ways to get the Viet Cong to defect. He was also a Nuclear Weapons officer and worked with SEAL teams. He was discharged in June 1969 as a lieutenant commander.
He earned military medals including the Bronze Star, The Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal and the National Defense Service Medal.
He was a graduate of USC Business School before starting a 37-year career with the Fullerton bank.
Widely known for his community service, Gregory served on a myriad of bank, youth, education and philanthropic boards.
Also surviving Gregory are: daughter, Brenna of Fullerton; son, Ryan of Fullerton; brother, Richard of Washington D.C. and sisters Nancy Garner of Bishop and Linda Meyer of Fullerton.
McAulay & Wallace Mortuary is handling the arrangements.

posted by Connie @ 1:00 AM   1 Comments

1 Comments:

At 1:07 AM , Blogger Connie said...

CARL WILSON GREGORY

FAMILY AND EDUCATION

Carl was born January 3, 1941 in Fullerton, CA, the second son of Jean and Merrill Gregory. Carl has an older brother, Richard S Gregory II of Washington DC, and two younger sisters, Nancy Jean (Gregory) Garner of Bishop, CA and Linda Katharine (Gregory) Meyer of Fullerton. His great grandfather, William Schulte, was an early pioneer in Fullerton, having come from the gold fields of Northern California. He was on the school board and was one of the promoters of Fullerton Union High School (FUHS). The land surrounding and including FUHS was laid out and subdivided by Carl’s grandfather, RS Gregory, Mayor of Fullerton in the 1920s, and Postmaster in the 1930s and 1940s. His father, R. Merrill Gregory, was President and Chairman of Fullerton Savings and Loan (later Fullerton Community Bank). His Mother, Jean Rose Wilson Gregory, was prominent in community service.

Carl attended Ford Grammar School, Wilshire Junior High School; and Fullerton Union High School. In high school, he played defensive half on the football team and ran track, was active in the Key Club, member of a car club, the FFA, the Honor Society and Chief Justice of the Student Court. His grandmother Mabel (Schulte) Gregory, father Merrill, brother Richard, sister Nancy, two children Brenna and Ryan and nephew Grant Meyer also attended FUHS.

As a child Carl spent his summers at Balboa and Lake Gregory – fished and hunted with his father Merrill and his grandfather, Richard S. Gregory.

Carl attended Oregon State University on a US Navy ROTC scholarship from September 1958 – June 1962 (only one of four from Fullerton in sunny Southern California who endured and survived four years of overcast and drizzle). He graduated OSU as the “youngest graduating senior”. At graduation, he was commissioned as an Ensign in the US Navy.

MILITARY SERVICE.

July 1962 – June 1969. After passing the rigorous flying physical, Carl served temporary duty for three or four weeks aboard an LST awaiting Flight School. In August 1962, he departed for flight school at Pensacola, Florida. In January 1963, he was accepted for basic jet training at Meridian, Mississippi, where he saw Deep South racism for the first time and learned to land Navy style on a very short and unforgiving 1000 feet of runway. In June 1963 – having endured five months of the Gregory family “ailment” – motion sickness – and nearly terminating on a hammerhead stall from 20,000 feet that ended up much too close to the ground, he and the Navy agreed that he “drop on request” flight training. He was then assigned to the USS Okinawa (LPH-3), a helicopter carrier, for two years as Crypto Officer and First Division Officer and Gunnery Officer, and participated in the Dominican Republic action.

In June 1965, Carl attended the US Naval Post Graduate School at Monterey, California studying Oceanography for one year. In June 1966, He volunteered for Vietnam instead of accepting duty as the commanding officer of an ocean going mine sweeper. (Family “ailment” again, probably the only Naval Officer to ever turn down a command at sea). He was assigned to six weeks of training at Fort Bragg, North Carolina for Army Psychological Warfare Training at the Army Special Warfare School.

In October, 1966, Carl was assigned to Headquarters Staff, Military Advisory Command to Vietnam as a Psychological Warfare Officer and Civic Action Officer. As Psy-War Officer his job was to devise ways to get the Viet Cong to defect. He also had a large budget, funded by the American Legion, to provide materials to help build schools, health centers and latrines for small farming villages that had no resources of their own. He worked closely with the Marines and other front line troops to deliver this. During his tour in Vietnam he visited approximately 27 provinces by helo and jeep. Luckily, he left before the Tet offensive devastated the countryside.

In October 1967, Carl left Vietnam and returned to the states where he was assigned to the Naval Special Warfare Group in San Diego at Coronado. There he became a Nuclear Weapons Officer and worked with SEAL teams, Beach Jumpers and UDT. He was on the administrative staff of these units that the Navy called “Unconventional Warfare.”

In May 1968, Carl transferred as “Operations Officer” of the Western Pacific Detachment of the Naval Special Warfare Group in Futima, Okinawa, which was also responsible for Vietnam. While there, he visited the Philippines and ran an exercise in Korea. He spent four months running a major exercise in Taiwan, commanding a platoon of SEALs who were training Chinese UDT in SEAL tactics. While stationed in Okinawa, he met Barb (his wife to be) on a blind date. She was a flight attendant for Continental Airlines and did not want to go out with him until she saw him at the door, luckily for him, she changed her mind. At the time she was flying troops in and out of Vietnam, Asia and the Pacific.

In June 1969, Carl left Okinawa and was discharged in July as a Lt. Commander after serving seven years in the Navy. Having received various commendations during his naval career, the last commendation he received was the Naval Commendation Medal for services in Korea and Okinawa.

GRADUATE EDUCATION AND CAREER

September 1969 – June 1971. Graduate Education. Carl attended the University of Southern California Graduate Business School. In June 1971, he received an MBA from USC.

In the winter of 1971, Carl worked at Mammoth Mountain as a ski patrolman for his brother-in-law John Garner. His wife, Barb arranged to fly on weekends and spend Monday through Thursday in Mammoth with Carl.

In June 1972, Carl began his long career at Fullerton Savings & Loan as a trainee appraiser and worked his way up through various positions to Executive Vice President by December 1978. In January, 1979, he became President of Fullerton Savings & Loan and eventually Chairman of the Board in 1992, replacing his father R. Merrill Gregory. He helped lead the company through a number of difficult years, e.g. the Savings and Loan Crises of the early 1980’s and various housing and regulatory “adjustments”.

In the last ten years, he guided the challenging shift from a Savings and Loan to the current full service Fullerton Community Bank. During this period the Bank’s assets grew to over $700 million, and it was regarded as one of the best small Banks in California. FCB/FS&L have always been heavily involved in supporting local schools, children’s sports teams and other Philanthropic activities in Fullerton and Orange County. FCB received the Fullerton Chamber of Commerce Business of the Year Award and the Florence Crittenton Services Business of the Year Award.

FAMILY

August 14, 1970 – Carl and Barb were married at the First Presbyterian Church in Fullerton. They spent their honeymoon in East Africa. Barb was still flying for Continental and was able to receive passes on other carriers; they spent quite sometime trying to get home. One of the planes they were scheduled to fly on was hijacked by terrorists and blown up. Their luggage was lost for six months. Carl swore he would never fly standby again and he hasn’t to date. Initially, they lived in Newport Beach at the beach house his Grandfather had bought in 1914.

In April 1975, Carl and Barb bought Carl’s grandparents’ old home on Hillcrest Drive in Fullerton. The home had originally been built by RS Gregory in 1918. Barb wanted a full bathroom upstairs. What started as a small remodeling job turned into an ongoing lifelong project – which most likely will NEVER be completed? In August, 1978, they finally moved in and have continued to improve it ever since. Most of the carpentry work was and is done by Carl. They still live there.

On June 26, 1974, their daughter Brenna Elizabeth was born at Hoag Hospital in Newport Beach – a glorious day. On June 20, 1977, their son Ryan Joseph was born at the same hospital. Brenna graduated in May 1996 from the University of Virginia with a BA in Religious Studies and received her JD from UCLA School of Law in 2002. After taking a seven month leave of absence in 2008 to work for a new photographic safari company in Tanzania, Brenna continues practicing Real Estate law at Gibson, Dunn and Crutcher. Ryan, or RJ, graduated from Colgate University in New York in 1999, where he was a wide receiver on the football team. After working for Bear Sterns in New York, RJ now works for Fullerton Community Bank.

In March 1978, Barbara resigned from Continental Airlines after 12 years of service as a flight attendant. She has since been active in a number of charitable and school activities in Fullerton including the National Charity League (with Brenna) and the Florence Crittenton Services. Carl has supported her in this work.

COMMUNITY SERVICE.

Carl has been very active in supporting the Fullerton and Orange County community over the years in a wide range of activities:

 Board Member of the California Bankers Association.
 Seventeen years on the Board of Directors of the Fullerton Boys and Girls Club including serving as Treasurer. This continues a family tradition as his father, Merrill, was one of the founding members and his son RJ is now on the board.
 Six years as Treasurer of the Board of East Fullerton Little League.
 Numerous years on the Board of Directors of the Western Youth Services.
 Member of the Board of Directors of the Carl Warren Insurance Company.
 Since 1991, on the Board of Trustees of the Southern California College of Optometry, serving as Treasurer and Chairman of the Board from 1999-2001.
 Board Member (Board of Directors) of “1201” a subsidiary of the California Dental Association in Sacramento.
 On the Board of Directors of the Ronald McDonald House.
 Served on the Fullerton Library Foundation.
 Seven years (1988-1995) on the Executive Board of the Fullerton High School Indian Booster Club and Co-President for two years with wife Barb.
 Served on the Fullerton Union High School Centennial Committee and actively involved in arranging FUHS Class Reunions.
 Coached Little League Baseball and Rangers Soccer for both children.
 Member Fullerton Positive.
 Member various Banking associations.
 Traveled to Mali, West Africa with the Turtlewill Foundation on a partially philanthropic trip.

AWARDS

1. Various Naval Service Medals including:
a. The Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal (for the Dominican Republic);
b. The Vietnam Service Medal with bronze star for in country service;
c. The Joint Services Commendation Medal for Meritorious Service in a Joint Command;
d. The Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal for duty in the Republic of Vietnam;
e. The National Defense Service Medal: and
f. The Naval Commendation Medal for service in Korea and Okinawa.
Honorary Lifetime

 

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