Business, civic leader Lester Gingold dies
He was a civic go-getter who never found time to retire but who also knew the most important moments in life weren’t about work.
Lester Fredric Gingold, who died Friday at the age of 96, couldn’t wait to get started on life — he was the first baby born in Birmingham, Alabama, on New Year’s Day 1922.
After three years in the Army during World War II, Gingold began a long business career that included more than 30 years with Sears, where he retired as a general merchandise manager for the Memphis region.
“At age 59, I was not ready for retirement,” Gingold wrote in a column reflecting on his life that he penned for the November edition of The Best Times, a monthly magazine for those 50 and older that Gingold bought in his late 70s. “A call from The Commercial Appeal set up my next career as advertising director for the Memphis Publishing Co.”
Gingold would serve in that role for 14 years before buying The Best Times — “a challenge I could not refuse,” he wrote. He served as publisher for 18 years until falling and breaking a shoulder.
He was listed as the publication’s publisher emeritus at the time of his death. The publisher is James K. Grubbs, to whom Gingold sold the publication in 2014.
But even around his professional obligations, Gingold found time to become involved in the community. He was president of the Memphis Cotton Carnival and Memphis Goodwill, and he served as board chairman for Memphis College of Arts and a board member for Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, Memphis Symphony Orchestra, the St. Mary’s Advisory Board and others.
As his health began to decline, Gingold reflected on family and life’s priorities. In The Best Times piece, which he wrote shortly before his death and referred to as “My Last 30 Days with Lester,” Gingold noted the importance of simple things.
“Most of us do not want to be alone at the end of life,” he wrote, “and the family and its relationship become more significant as each day passes.”
He noted that visits from his grandchildren and great-grandchildren became increasingly important.
“My almost 3-year-old great-granddaughter will sit with me in bed reading a book together and I realize how few of us in the end of life have so much to be grateful for,” he said. “A daily visit from my granddaughter makes the day sig-
nificant to start.”
Tom Jordan is managing editor of The Best Times and worked at The Commercial Appeal as a reporter and editor while Gingold was there. Jordan called Gingold “a great source of information.”
“He drew on his vast experiences in life, and he was an enthusiastic reader,” Jordan said. “I learned from him, and I will miss him.”
Gingold leaves his wife, Joyce Meacham; a daughter, Joy Bateman; six grandchildren and six greatgrandchildren.
A memorial service will be at 2 p.m. Saturday at Church of The Holy Communion. A celebration of life will follow in the parish hall.