Memories / Reflections of my Friendship with Joe Gayle

I first met Joe Gayle in the mid eighties on a residential landscape project in his hometown of Perry, Ga. He had been called to provide a landscape renovation plan on an antebellum home there and I was the contractor. It was obvious that he was very talented in the art of landscape design and construction and had a keen eye for details. However, I think one of hs best talents was his unique ability to relate to his clients and make them understand why they needed to implement his plan. I had often heard the phrase "he could sell ice to an Eskimo", but I never knew who that phrase was coined for until I met Joe!

 

One of my favorite stories about Joe occured about eight months after the project on the forementioned home had been completed. The homeowner stopped by the garden center one Saturday as I was closing up. Joe's name came up in the conversation and he said, "that darn Joe Gayle; he came down here, pulled a Sharpie out of his pocket and sketched something out on a napkin and before I knew it, I had spent ten thousand dollars"! I then asked him if he liked how things turned out and he said"well, yes" so I told him it was money well spent.

 

Then there was the time I was in a meeting with Joe and a client and we were discussing the budget that was needed to implement the design of the project. The homeowner kept wanting to make numerous changes in order to reduce costs. All of a sudden, Joe looked at him and as politely and respectfully as possible, suggested that we might just throw out some bird seed on his property, which in all probability would meet his budget. I will never forget the look on that guy's face and I'm quite certain mine looked very similar, but when he had gotten over the initial shock of that comment, he broke into laughter and loosened his wallet.

 

Over the years, I worked with Joe on numerous projects in middle Georgia, Birmingham and Atlanta. I learned so much from him about plants, design, and paying attention to details. But the most important thing I learned from him was how to treat people and build their trust through integrity and professionalism in all that you do.

 

Joe was always excited to see a project come to completion and move on to the next one with all of the challenges each project provided, but the most excitement I ever saw from Joe was when he and Sylvia were about to travel to Isle of Palms (or wherever else they would gather) for a Gayle Family reunion! Or when Little Joe and Ted would bring their families (especially the grandchildren) for a visit at Christmas or any other time of the year. He loved his family dearly!

 

I am deeply saddened that Joe Gayle is no longer with us and I will certainly miss him, but I am comforted by the fact that he has been healed and is with Our Lord and Savior and in the presence of those family members that have gone before him.

 

One of the greatest blessings of my life was when my path crossed Joe's and I will always be thankful for his friendship, the memories I will carry with me and the honor of being considered one of his "associates"! Joe touched many lives over his eighty one years on this earth and like me, those who were so fortunate to cross his path were so much the better for having known him.

 

Go Rest High Up on that Mountain, Joe!