Thanks to a special friendship
between my parents, Hayley and Marjorie Dandridge and Bill and Elizabeth
Gulledge, Wayne was my constant companion from the time of my birth, exactly
three months after his, until our high school paths took us in different
directions. But we have stayed in
touch via email and letters ever since.
I want to
tell you some of the things about Wayne that made him special to me.
 |
| Sketch of Gulledge in his law school days. |
You see, I
became an organ donor for Wayne at the age of 6…not in the ordinary sense of
the word. The night before I went
to Oxford to have my tonsils removed, he called and asked my mother to save my
tonsils for him if, “They were an acceptable specimen.” I guess they were. We brought them home
in a jar. For the next few years
when we started science in school, he would bring them in proudly and plop them
on the teacher’s desk, much to her horror, and say, “These are Nancy’s
tonsils.”
They
eventually decomposed and lost their shock effect. When I had my appendix removed the
next year he made the same request.
My appendix must have not looked too good, because the doctor said NO.
We had so many wonderful childhood
adventures. I was a typical giggly
girl and Wayne was always beyond-his-years-smart. When we toured the Wonder Bread factory in Memphis, I ate
the center out of my bread before we got home and his was preserved in pristine
shape until mold set in.
 |
| Christmas at the Gulledges' with Bill Gulledge |
I always got great Christmas
presents, but Wayne’s were super-great and I couldn’t wait every Christmas to
go over and see what he got….a robot, additions to his full-size train city in
the basement, loads of fireworks. I was scared to go in his room because he
delighted in my horror of his pet tarantula spider, various toads, and even a
pet snake. But Wayne was an avid animal lover of the more normal variety of
pets from childhood to the present.
From the collie of his boyhood days to the many cats over the years,
animals were a vital part of his life.
He even found more delight in my
horror of his hero, The Monster of Ceremonies SIVAD, host of Fantastic
Features. He would call when it came on and make me watch it with him over the
telephone and when it got creepy I would hang up. When SIVAD himself made a live appearance at the then-Gloria
Theatre, he had SIVAD sign his arm and refused to wash it for days.
He was an interesting boy who could
spend hours looking through gravel for fossils; would go through piles of
coins, hoping for a rare find; and he amazed me that he could place a
magnifying glass just so and start a fire which he did when we camped once at
his family’s farm property. My fires never lit.
When I did my girly giggle or got
over-excited about one of our adventures, he would look at me over his glasses
and tell me not to “get overjoyed” or to “compose myself.”
What I really want you to know
about Wayne Gulledge is that he was ridiculously-intelligent, a sweet soul,
funny, witty, serious, well-read, firm in his beliefs and a true eccentric. When I sent him the name of a fiction
author I was reading this summer, he informed me that he was reading
non-fiction these days…accounts of religious relic research……outsmarted again.
I checked Wayne’s Facebook page
last night and found many remarks from his friends in Jackson, many he had
counseled through their own dark times.
So it is with a sad smile that I
remember my friend, no more tears, you know he would tell me to “compose
myself.”
 |
| My favorite pic, from the Tom Thumb wedding. We were groomsman and bridesmaid. Not sure he was sold on all this pageantry. |
Obituary
Wayne C. Gulledge, 59 of Flowood and Senatobia, attended
Senatobia City School, Harding Academy and Memphis University School where he
graduated with honors.
Gulledge graduated with honors from Davidson College where
he majored in pre-med. He
completed his Juris Doctorate from the University of Mississippi School of Law
in 1979.
While living in Flowood, he was an active supporter of
Alcoholics Anonymous at the Jackson Chapter where served as mentor and
counselor.
An avid animal lover, he supported MARL (Mississippi Animal
Rescue League) in Jackson.
His parents, William Ralph Gulledge and Elizabeth Carter
Gulledge, long-time Senatobia residents, preceded him in death. Survivors
include his sister Anne Gulledge Boling (Charles) of Senatobia; a brother
William Ralph Gulledge Jr. (Liz) of Springdale, Utah;
Nephew Jeff McGee of Senatobia; nieces Suzanne McGee
Creekmore (Robert) of Senatobia; and Ashley Gulledge Franzen (Doug) of Seattle,
Wash.; and several great-nephews and many friends.
Gulledge was a member of the church of Christ. A memorial
service was held at the Senatobia church of Christ Nov. 6 and another service
will be held in Jackson Nov. 15 at the Raymond Road AA.
The family requests that memorials be made to the
Senatobia-Tate County Animal Shelter.
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