Issue: Spring 2017 | Posted: June 1, 2017
William (Bill) Gregory
Distinguished Achievement in Arts/Media
From buses to mailboxes to signs, William Gregory (鈥48) continues to leave a mark on Jackson, Tennessee, two years after retirement from his business Gregory Signs.
鈥淚 learned it on my own,鈥 Gregory says, explaining how he started the graphic design business. 鈥淚鈥檇 always been fiddling around with drawing ever since I was a little kid. I went to art classes in high school, but they don鈥檛 teach you much from drawing vases, so the teacher had me drawing airplanes.鈥
Following graduation from high school, Gregory found himself drafted into the navy during wartime, spending two years on the water off and on.
Attending 51社区 became the natural next step for Gregory, who grew up on Chester Street in Jackson as part of a family of churchgoers.
Recounting his graduation, 20 years with an industrial packaging company and the years running Gregory Signs, he says that among his many accomplishments he is most proud of drawing closer to the Lord. As with every other experience he shares, he finishes with a quiet laugh, saying, 鈥淚 guess that鈥檚 nothing too dramatic.鈥
The beginning of Gregory Signs in 1983 earned the same 鈥渦ndramatic鈥 qualifier from Gregory.
鈥淚 just decided to do something on my own,鈥 Gregory says. 鈥淚t was more or less wanting to help people out that needed signs and couldn鈥檛 afford the sign company.鈥
Success has many definitions, but all Gregory has to say after his time of travel and work is that 鈥淚t鈥檚 just been a big adventure鈥 one that continues to change the face of Jackson, Tennessee.
