Bernard V. Gregory, a quintessential volunteer, unifier of organizations and voice of reason for Jacksonville. People who worked with Mr. Gregory for years, as well as family and friends, recalled him as a man of boundless energy whose death will leave a leadership void on many civic and community services boards. "He was a very unusual man; he was always so interested in helping people," Marion Gregory said. "He was always so concerned about the community, and he had been this way for a very long time."
Mr. Gregory helped raise hundreds of thousands of dollars and gave thousands of hours of service to such organizations as the American Lung Association, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the National Conference of Christians and Jews, the United Way of Northeast Florida, the Urban League, Jacksonville Community Relations Commission, Clara White Mission and the Northwest Council of the Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce.
" Bernard Gregory was a consummate server," said Ronald Belton, chairman of the State Board of Community Colleges and one of Mr. Gregory 's longtime associates. "He was always willing to do, and he did. He would always ask, "What needs to be done?" and "How can I help?" And he always did it right. " Volunteering was his hobby, his avocation, his passion," said Sandra Kesler, executive director of the Northeast Florida Region of the American Lung Association. "That's what turned him on. I truly think he would rather sit in a board meeting than be on a golf course." Of the numerous requests he received to join organizations, Mr. Gregory once said, "I couldn't say no. I don 't know how to say no."
Mr. Gregory was a New York native who worked for 33 years as an insurance salesman and executive in Detroit; Chicago; Toledo, Ohio; Winston-Salem, N.C.; and Jacksonville. He moved to Jacksonville in 1975 and was vice president and agency director for African American Life Insurance Co. and associate manager of advertising and sales promotion for tile Prudential Insurance Co. Mr. Gregory went to work for Southern Bell Telephone Co. in 1981 and became active in volunteer service. Soon, he found himself joining nearly every major civic association in the city and attending anywhere from two to five meetings a day. In 1991. he retired from Southern Bell as telemarketing sales manager and intensified his volunteer activities.
"Father was a firm lifetime believer that life is for service to others," Rodney Gregory said. "He did the best he could as long as he could. Even in his last waning days, he was thinking of how to serve others. You could always trust him. If he gave his word, he'd stand by it." Mr. Gregory received many local, state and national awards for his work, including the Humanitarian Award from the National Conference and the Clanzel T. Brown Award from the Urban League. He was also placed on the American Lung Association 's National Wall of Recognition.