Over the past 90 years, Franklin Slay has been known for his kindness and desire to make a positive impact on the lives of others.
He graduated from Quitman High School in 1949 and went on to college at Southern Mississippi.
“On July 28, 1951 I married Betty Greer from Hattiesburg. I went into the service in 1953 during the Korean War. At that time we had our first child, Frank III, and I was stationed at Fort Jackson, South Carolina. I was sent to Germany and in March 1954 was stationed in Frankfurt with the MP Battalion. I was fortunate enough to have Betty and Frank, who was 3 months old, come over to live. We lived with a couple, Frau Hoestler, who was a professor at the University of Frankfurt and his wife. We lived on the third floor of a walk up, cold water flat. We did travel some while in Germany in an Opel I had bought. I ended up selling it and got a 1932 Mercedes convertible that I wished I had brought back to the States. When we found out we were having our second child, Sandra, I had the opportunity to come back to the states in 1954 so I sold my Mercedes to pay our way home to have her in Hattiesburg. We eventually moved back to Quitman, but I continued my education traveling back and forth to Hattiesburg to attend Southern Mississippi at night. I graduated in 1961. As time went along, my dad was having heart trouble so I had to help my parents with the grocery business in Quitman full time. We had a bicycle home delivery service which was ahead of its time as far as I’m concerned. We had Slay’s Grocery for 50 years, and it burned down in 1993. Betty had the Nail Keg gift shop on the backside of the grocery store.”
Franklin still had a strong desire to serve others and he successfully did that through municipal leadership.
“I had the opportunity to run for the Board of Alderman in the City of Quitman. I was elected and served 13 years as a board member. The mayor, Lewis McClinton, passed away while in office, so I ran for the mayor vacancy and served three years. I ran again and served another term, which made 20 years with the city,” expressed Franklin. “When I first started as mayor, city hall was in the building where the newspaper is in now. We bought a building over where city hall is now and remodeled it with local people, and that’s how we got the City Hall we have now.”
While he was in office as both alderman and mayor, he and the other municipal leaders were able to accomplish a great deal to benefit Quitman.
“We did a lot of things in the city at that time. Clarke County was well blessed in the oil business, timber business and mills. There was just a lot of activity in Clarke County. As a board member, we had the opportunity to get some federal money and redo our water and sewer system. With that money, we purchased land for the industrial park and developed it. We had the first well drilled in the industrial park,” informed Franklin. “We also had some federal money to rework our water and sewer system and do some paving. The sewer system went in with the new well we had in the industrial park. We were instrumental in getting the first lagoon that would service our sewer system. Before that, it was dumped into the Chickasawhay River.”
With the Mayor and Board’s leadership the city worked diligently to get everything done correctly and the city grew as more land was acquired.
“During this time, we extended the city limits which had never been extended before, and they’re still in the same place they were when we extended it. We did our own paving and had some really good employees. We used equipment we purchased from another city and laid out the city streets and paved them. We had a really good water superintendent who put in most of the water lines with the city equipment and furnished water to new areas,” declared Franklin. “We had an opportunity to get federal funds to buy a piece of property which is now the recreational complex. We had an engineer lay it out, and it’s been very active in that area.”
Not only did Franklin serve the board for the city, but he also served on the board for Pat Harrison Waterway.
“I served on the Pat Harrison Waterway board for seven years. A group of us from Quitman went down to Hattiesburg to meet with the board at Pat Harrison Waterway. We discussed several locations for Archusa Water Park: one of them was East Quitman on Highway 18, and the other was here inside the city limits of Quitman,” proclaimed Franklin. “Pat Harrison acquired federal money and issued bids to build the lake: Archusa Water Park. I was a board member when it started but was mayor when it finished.”
Franklin was part of different organizations that are now staples of the community: one of those things was the Quitman Country Club.
“There was a group of 13 of us that purchased the land where the Country Club is now. We bought it for a social club,” explained Franklin. “A year or two later, we had an opportunity to get some money to build a County Club house and develop the land. We worked with John Baumer to lay out the golf course and greens. It was a very nice golf course and was originally nine holes.”
His desire to work hard and help others wasn’t limited to only helping the City of Quitman. Franklin also believed in education, having four children: Frank, Sandra, Susan and Lauri.
“A group of us got together and formed a private school in Pachuta: Clarke Academy,” stated Franklin. “It lasted for a number of years, and a lot of students attended Clarke Academy.”
While he is now a volunteer with the Friends of Clarkco, Franklin has also been involved in other important volunteer work over the years to help give back to the county.
“I’m one of the original fire department members in Quitman. We had a small building over by the Quitman Saw Mill. When I was on the board, a friend of mine, James McDonald, was also on the board. He went to a football game and found out we could get some money to build a fire house. The one that’s down there now is the first fire house,” described Franklin. “We started out with about 18 volunteer members and one fire truck. The original fire truck was made here in Quitman. The Young boys built it out of an old army truck and converted it into a fire truck. We also had some army equipment that we used for firefighting. The next truck we got was an old Chevrolet truck that we kept for many years. They were the only fire trucks in Clarke County. We made fire travels all over the county and even outside the county. As time went along, we got other new fire trucks as long as we could afford them and would try to get fire revenue from insurance to help pay for them.”
While he has always been involved in farming cows, he does have other things he enjoys doing in his spare time now. He doesn’t let being 90 years old slow him down. He enjoys working in his yard and spending time with his precious pets, Henry and Little Girl.
“I have two dogs, and they’re faithful to me. I take them and ride my three wheeled bike through the neighborhood about twice a day,” said Franklin. “It really helps me stay active.”
He has witnessed many changes over the years, but one thing will never change: Franklin’s love for his family and others and the desire to help make positive change. He still brightens others’ day with his joyful smile and friendly demeanor.
