If Bradley Hale was in the room, you could bet a great story was being told.
A crowd favorite seems to involve a Las Vegas business trip, two lawyers in seersucker suits, a confused bartender and Howard Hughes.
“Bradley and an associate were representing an heir of Hughes’ and they walked into a bar,” said Mark C. McDonald, president and chief executive of the Georgia Trust. “So they’re both wearing seersucker suits and they walk up to the bar, but they can’t get any service. After awhile Bradley said he asked the bartender if they could order a drink, and the bartender looks at them and says, ‘Oh, I thought you were with the band.’ He always had stories like that.”
And it wasn’t just the stories, he could whip up an amusing email message too, Mr. McDonald said.
“He was famous for sending witty emails,” he said. “It made your week when you got a funny email from Bradley.”
Widely know for his sense of humor, Mr. Hale was very serious about Georgia and Alabama history. He was a former chairman of the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation and founding chairman of the advisory board of the Georgia Historical Society. He was also a trustee of the National Trust for Historic Preservation and served as chairman of the Atlanta Historical Society.
Mr. Hale also commissioned two historical accounts, the most recent, "Reborn in America: French Exiles and Refugees in the United States and the Vine and Olive Adventure, 1815-1865," by Eric Saugera, was published in October. The book, which took 10 years from inception to completion, chronicles the settlement of Demopolis, Ala., located 20 miles west of the Hale family farm, by French exiles, said his son F. Sheffield Hale, of Atlanta. For Bradley Hale's birthday, on Oct. 30, Mr. Saugera gave a lecture on the literary work.
William Bradley Hale, formerly of Atlanta, called Bradley by all who knew him, died Monday at his residence in Marengo County, Ala., from complications of pulmonary fibrosis. He was 78. A memorial service has been planned for 10 a.m., Nov. 22 at All Saints Episcopal Church in Atlanta. Burial is scheduled for 11 a.m., Nov. 25, at Paulling Place Cemetery, in Marengo County. Kirk Funeral Home, Demopolis Chapel, is in charge of arrangements.
Sheffield Hale said his father was a “serial organizer,” with a knack for enlisting the help of others.
“He was very project oriented, and he always had something he was working on, always,” he said. “You could be talking to him about something and the next thing you know you’ve been sucked into a project you had no idea you were signing up for. It has happened to me countless times. I’m working on one right now.”
Mr. Hale, born in Mobile, lived in Alabama full-time since his wife of 50 years, Anne Sheffield Hale, died in June 2010. A former attorney and managing partner at the law firm of King & Spalding, Mr. Hale liked to add an element of fun to whatever he was doing, his son said.
“He loved the intersection between people, intellectual activity and fun,” Sheffield Hale said. “He thought that if you had a good time, people could accomplish more. He said man’s greatest sin was to be boring.”
Mr. Hale is also survived by his daughter, Ellen Hale Jones of Atlanta; five grandsons and one brother, Dr. Everett Hale of Tuscaloosa, Ala.
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