Retired Army brigadier general, state and local leader Wendell Gilbert dies at 91

Clarksville-Montgomery County is made up of a mixture of military and civilian interests, and city native Wendell Gilbert was a leader on both fronts.

The retired U.S. Army brigadier general, former Tennessee governor’s chief of staff and cabinet member, and former vice president of development at Austin Peay State University, died Friday, July 8, at the Clarksville veterans nursing home that is named in his honor.

He was 91.

'Endless good works'

Gilbert had a fun-loving infectious smile, but he was all-business when he needed to be. He is remembered as someone who loved Clarksville-Montgomery County and advanced the community through endless good works.

“I grew up next-door to Wendell on Greenwood Avenue,” said longtime business leader and philanthropist Ben Kimbrough. Now 94, Kimbrough told The Leaf-Chronicle that Gilbert “was always a person of high integrity and a good citizen of Clarksville.”

After graduating from The United States Military Academy at West Point in June 1954, Gilbert served 27 years in the US Army. Some of his most memorable assignments included two tours in Vietnam and the command of an artillery battery, battalion and brigade at Army posts in the U.S. and Germany, according to his obituary.

He served both as the 101st Airborne Division Artillery commander and the division’s chief of staff.

Gilbert's military awards include among many others, the Legion of Merit (with Oak Leaf Cluster), Bronze Star Medal (with Oak Leaf Cluster) and Meritorious Service Medal (with Oak Leaf Cluster). He was also the recipient of the Combat Infantry Badge, Parachutist Badge and Air Assault Badge, among other U.S. and Vietnamese awards, his obituary said.

Kimbrough recalls a moment when then- Brig. Gen. Gilbert phoned him from Washington, D.C., after being offered an executive position at APSU. It would mean entering the civilian world.

“At that time Wendell was probably on the verge of being promoted again in the Army. We talked about it, and after a while he decided to come home to serve Austin Peay, and he did an exemplary job,” Kimbrough said.

Dee Boaz, former editor of The Leaf-Chronicle and longtime Clarksville community leader, said Gilbert and his wife, Jean, were among the first people she met and befriended in town.

“I came to Clarksville in 1983 as editor of The Leaf-Chronicle knowing connections had to be made quickly. Wendell, being a native, and Jean, whose background was in Columbus, Ga., where I'd also been in newspapering, proved invaluable in making these connections,” Boaz said.

A friendship quickly developed where they worked together and supported each other's ideas and efforts.

Leadership Clarksville is born

“When Wendell was president-elect of the Chamber of Commerce, he asked me to head the beautification committee. I declined, but told him I was familiar with Leadership programs in several cities, including Atlanta, and urged him to endorse the idea of starting one here,” Boaz said.

Gilbert said local banking executive Jim Mann had mentioned the same thing, and tasked Boaz and Mann to work toward putting such a program together that he could get behind. That led to the successful Leadership Clarksville program, today ready to begin its 35th year.

“Earlier, with Jean, and Rachel and Jim Cotham, we worked to start the Flying High fundraiser for the fledgling Clarksville Historical Museum, to begin the Candlelight Ball fundraiser for APSU, and the Gala for the Arts to unveil the concert hall for APSU, now the Mabry Concert Hall,” Boaz said.

“There is no doubt Clarksville's and Austin Peay's vibrancy today are easily traced to true, solid community leaders such as Wendell."

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After his time at APSU, Gilbert was called to state service as commissioner of veterans affairs, the state's first commissioner of homeland security and finally to be the chief of staff for Gov. Don Sundquist, according to his obituary.

In business and in pleasure, Gilbert surrounded himself with people who knew how to effectively combine the two. One of his friendships, with longtime Clarksville car dealer and businessman Ed Groves, partly grew out of a love of laughter.

“There were probably eight to 10 couples that we called the Orange Mules. We went to the Tennessee and Army college football game together once and it grew into us doing several things together … folks including (longtime Clarksville business and community leaders) Jim Holleman, Frank McGregor, Gene Harris, Joel Jackson, L.C. Burkhalter and Luther Thigpen, and their spouses.

"We traveled and laughed a whole lot together, and Wendell always organized all of that, because he just loved to have fun,” Groves said.

“Wendell believed in Clarksville and did everything he could to make it better."

Groves said the two became close after Gilbert's military career.

“There were actually a lot of things he did for the advancement of Clarksville — its schools and other interests, that nobody probably ever even knew about," Groves said.

Influencing future generations

Many Clarksville residents obviously know that current 19th District Circuit Court Judge Ted Crozier, Jr., is the son of the late, former Clarksville mayor and former Fort Campbell chief of staff of the same name.

What many residents may not know, however, is that Gilbert was the father-in-law of Judge Crozier, who is married to Ann Marie (Gilbert) Crozier.

Ted Crozier Jr. said his father-in-law had an abiding devotion to family.

“As a father-in-law, he was a terrific role model,” Crozier said, adding that Gilbert often openly counseled his own wife, Jean, not to interfere in the married lives of their children and spouses because of the natural boundaries that families need.

“That was always the funniest thing to me,” Crozier said, “because I always knew I could handle ‘Mama Jean,’ which is what we called my mother-in-law. But what it showed was how important he felt that boundaries were for successful families.

“He was a terrific grandfather. He was always at our kids’ ball games and activities, and he had a terrific sense of humor.

“The general was very adept in social situations, although I think he was really more of an introvert than many people realized. He could be an extrovert when he needed to be.

“He was a West Point Military Academy graduate who served his country, his state and his community with “Duty, Honor and Country” principles the way West Point firmly believes those principles should be applied."

Crozier said he plans to retire as circuit court judge in August, "to spend more time with family, largely because I learned the importance of that from my father, and my father-in-law."

Funeral arrangements

Visitation with the family of Brig. Gen. (Ret.) Wendell H. Gilbert will be held from 4-7 p.m. on Friday, July 15, and from 9-10 a.m. on Saturday, July 16 at McReynolds, Nave & Larson Funeral Home.

A graveside service will be held at 10:30 a.m. on July 16, at Greenwood Cemetery with the Rev. Harriet Bryan officiating.

Full U.S. Army honors will be rendered with Ed Groves, Ben Kimbrough, Ted Crozier, Jr. and Martin Crozier serving as honorary pallbearers.

Gilbert was born in Clarksville on June 16, 1931, to Wendell H. Gilbert and Mary Elizabeth Sullivan Gilbert. He was a life-long member of Madison Street United Methodist Church.

He is predeceased by his wife of 65 years, Eugenia (Jean) Meadows Gilbert, their son, Wendell H. Gilbert III, and his parents. He is survived by his daughter, Ann Marie Crozier (Ted), and his two grandchildren, Caroline Sismanturk (Celik) and Martin Crozier.

It is Gilbert’s wish that any memorials be donated to the APSU general scholarship fund. Condolences may also be made to his family by visiting NaveFuneralHomes.com.

This article originally appeared on Clarksville Leaf-Chronicle: Retired Army brigadier general Wendell Gilbert dies at 91