Mayes HALE

The following bio was taken from page 223 of the book entitled "Rusk County History" compiled and edited and used with permission of the Rusk County Historical Commission.

Transcribed by Gloria Riley

Submitted by Gloria Briley Mayfield, Rusk County TX Coordinator

Mayes and I are native East Texans, both born near Crockett in Houston County, but during World War II we lived in Galveston and worked for an oil company in Texas City.

Mayes had been manager of an auto dealership before going into defense work when cars were no longer available. All of the years he was busy routing aviation gasoline shipments to the air bases, he dreamed of being an automobile dealer when the war was over.

After checking several towns in East Texas, we learned that Rusk County had a greater number of cars registered than other larger towns. The greatest attraction to Henderson, however, was the fact that his brother, Guy Hale, and his wife, Olive, and their daughter, Ann, were long-time residents and really liked living here.

Mayes and Guy spent many hours planning a business, and on July 31, 1945 they opened a garage at 205 North Van Buren, with one mechanic, Joe Elliott, repairing cars. On August 10, our twelve-year old son, Dale Sloan, and I came to Henderson to live and work in the business. In September Mayes and Guy got the franchise for Studebaker, and Hale Motor Company became a reality. In 1961 we signed the contract with American Motors to sell their cars. In 1965 Mayes and Dale acquired land on Highway 79, and Dale became a partner, since Mayes had bought Guy’s interest several years before. We moved into the new building in January 1967, and Dale became president and manager. We then contracted for Plymouth, Chrysler, and Dodge to handle their cars.

Dale is very civic-minded and has served as Kiwanis president, Chamber of Commerce president, and a volunteer fireman for many years, and is now in his second term as city councilman.

In 1948 our business was prospering, so I quit work to be a homemaker. Also that year Mayes was elected president of the Kiwanis Club, and four years later he was elected Lieutenant Governor of this district. He also served eight years on the City Council.

On August 7, 1950 our daughter, Julie, was born. She attended all the schools from Mrs. Wright’s Kindergarten through Henderson High School. She then went to Baylor University in 1968 and received a B.A. Degree in May 1972. Julie is now married to Gary Fowler, and they live in Longview.

Mayes has a son from a previous marriage, Leonard Mayes Hale, who grew up in Crockett, but visited us often. He finished Baylor University in 1959 and married Marilyn McNeil in March 1960, and they now live in Wichita Falls. They have two children, Jan and Brett. Leonard has been an FBI agent for fifteen years.

Dale Sloan, whose father has been dead since he was six, married Elizabeth Gilbert of Kilgore in April 1953. We became grandparents on June 14, 1954 when John Dale Sloan, Jr., was born. John is now a lawyer with the Bill Wilder law firm and on August 15, 1981 was married to Cathy Crow. Vanessa Kay was born February 18, 1958, and is married to Ben Andrew Vincent. Andy is a vice president at Citizens National Bank. They have a son, Ben Andrew, Jr. James Gilbert was born November 11, 1960, and Stephen Mayes was born February 7, 1968.

We have had happy years in Henderson, and Mayes loved this town until the day he died, October 3, 1977. Dale carries on the business and we still have happy family gatherings and a wonderful growing family.

Written by Irene Hale