A Celebration of Life for Dr. Joseph Nathan Gayles, Jr. August 7, 1937- October 2, 2008 Wednesday, October 8, 2008 -11:00am- Cascade United Methodist Church 3144 Cascade Road, Southwest Atlanta, Georgia Reverend Marvin A. Moss Senior Pastor Reverend Bernice W. Kirkland Senior Associate Pastor OBITUARY Dr. Joseph Nathan Gayles, Jr. was born in Birmingham, Alabama, on August 7, 1937 as the first child of the late Joe N. Gayles and Ernestine Williams of Bessemer, Alabama. He attended public schools in the city of his birth and demonstrated such an exceptional ability in mathematics and science that he spent his junior year at Andover Newtown Academy in Massachusetts on full scholarship. After graduating from Ullman High School in Birmingham in 1954 as the top student in mathematics, he entered Dillard University on a full academic scholarship and, in May of 1958, graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Science degree with a major in chemistry. In 1958, with a Woodrow Wilson Fellowship, he entered Brown University and in 1963, at the age of twenty-six, earned the Ph.D. in physical chemistry. In 1964, he was an assistant professor post doctoral at Oregon State University, and in 1965 he conducted research in quantum chemistry, biophysics and solid state physics at the University of Uppsala in Sweden, concentrating on electromagnetic radiation and computer applications. From 1966 to 1969, he was a staff scientist/project director at IBM Research Laboratories in San Jose, California. In 1969, he was a member of the chemistry faculty at Morehouse College, where he was named by the Board of Trustees as Program Director of the Initiative that would lead to the founding of the Morehouse School of Medicine. From 1977 to 1983, he served with distinction as President of Talladega College, where he raised more than forty million dollars and conducted the first successful capital campaign in the history of the College. In 1983, he returned home to the Morehouse School of Medicine, where he served as Vice President for Institutional Advancement until 1996 and, in that capacity, generated more than sixty million dollars during two campaigns. The following year, he founded a consulting firm named Jon-Mon after his children Jonathan and Monica. Widely published in reputable journals, major among them the Journal of Physical Chemistry. he_was the recipient of many honors and awards, including membership in Phi Beta Kappa, Camille and Henry Dreyfus Teacher Scholar, Honorary Doctor of Laws from Dillard University, and the Presidential Leadership Award from Morehouse School of Medicine. In April of 2000, he was awarded the honorary degree, Doctor of Science, at the 25th anniversary of the Morehouse School of Medicine for the key role he played in the founding of the institution. Joe was a visionary and a scholar who devoted his life to Black higher education. All the places in which he served-Talladega College, Morehouse College, and the Morehouse School of Medicine-bear the imprint of his commitment to hard work, excellence and achievement. He was a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity and Sigma Pi Phi. He was baptized at Sixth Avenue Baptist Church in Birmingham and, for many years, was a member of Cascade United Methodist Church. He was preceded in death by his brothers Carl Gayles and Robert Gayles. He is survived by his son Jonathan (Pam); his daughter Monica (Anthony); his two grandchildren, Tyler Kate and Andrew Joseph; his nieces Angela Ross and Stephanie Gayles; his former wife Gloria Gayles; and a host of cousins and friends who loved him. Order of Service PRELUDE .......................................................................... .. [ GREETING ........................................................................... ! I There's a Sweet, Sweet Spirit Jarvis Wilson, Organist Rev. Marvin A. Moss HYMN OF CELEBRATION .................................................. . SCRIPTURES ....................................................................... . PRAYER ............................................................................... . REFLECTIONS .................................................................... .. Blessed Assurance, #369 Old Testament, Psalm 23 Pamela Gayles New Testament, 2 Timothy 4:6-8 Anthony Dorsey Reverend Bernice Kirkland Thomas Cole Joseph Johnson Willis CaBins Elsa Brooks LIGHTING THE CANDLE OF REMEMBRANCE .................. .. Jonathan Gayles Monica Dorsey Tyler Kate Dorsey Andrew Joseph Dorsey CELEBRATION IN SONG ........................................................ WORDS OF COMFORT ........................................................... . MUSICAL REFLECTIONS AND VIDEO PRESENTATION ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ......... ... ............................................. RECESSIONAL ......................................................................... .. I His Eye is on the Sparrow Anissa Ward Rev. Lawrence Edward Carter, Sr. Reverend Marvin A. Moss OHappyDay To honor our father's memory, we have created The joseph Nathan Gayles Scholarship Fund. The purpose of this fund is to continue our father's commitment to African American participation in higher education. Donations can be made at any Bank of America location. Acknowledgements We are grateful for the heartfelt expressions of love, concern and support we have received from so many of you. Your memories of Dad as neighbor, as colleague, or as friend have made us laugh and cry. Most of all, they have made us proud that he was our father. Our memories, together with yours, will help us move from deep pain to spiritual healing. Dad would want us to thank you, and, from the bottom of our hearts, we do. Jonathan and Monica Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know. Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way? Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. John 14:1-6 Arrangements entrusted to Murray Brothers Funeral Home