Robertson Gaylor Obituary

Robertson Hayes Gaylor CHARLESTON - Robertson Hayes Gaylor of Paris, France and Charleston, SC, businessman, socialite, and raconteur par execellence, died Tuesday, December 21, 2010, at the Hotel Dieu hospital in Paris, nearly within sight of his beloved and justly famed residence on the quiet medieval rue de Savoie. He was 68. Born June 15, 1941, in Augusta, GA, he was the son of Walter Hayes Gaylor and Louise Langley Gaylor. Mr. Gaylor graduated from Sewanee Military Academy in 1959 and from the University of South Carolina in 1963. He then launched a career in packaging with Meade and later with ERCA in international sales, where he became a vice-president. He traveled to nearly every corner of the globe, bringing back tales that leapt animated from his flamboyant gestures and the whimsical cadences of his speech. Paris was his home, but he also maintained a lifelong love of Charleston, where he owned the Vanderhorst House on Chapel Street, to which he returned frequently. Until the advent of his long illness, he never missed a Christmas with his family in Gramling, SC. Mr. Gaylor is survived by a sister, Gwendolyn Gaylor Gramling and her husband Ben Gramling II of Gramling, SC; a nephew, Ben Gramling III and his wife Robin of Charleston, SC; a niece, Clara Gramling Chambers and her husband Rufus of Atlanta, GA; four great-nephews, Martin, Phillip, and Robertson Gramling of Charleston, SC and Rufus Chambers of Atlanta, GA; and a great niece, Adair Chambers of Atlanta, GA. He never married. A private family service will be conducted by Reverend Ben Herlong at Gramling United Methodist Church on December 28. Memorials can be made to Gramling United Methodist Church or American College of Building Arts, 21 Magazine St., Charleston, SC 29401. Seawright Funeral Home is assisting the Gaylor family Visit our guestbook at www.postandcourier.com/ deaths