Frank McGaughey dies
Longtime Havertys leader, director
By Clint Engel -- Furniture Today, February 10, 2008
Atlanta — Frank McGaughey Jr., longtime leader and director of Top 100 store Havertys, has died. He was 84.
McGaughey devoted his entire career to Havertys and served in several leadership positions. He began in 1947 at the Dallas store and in 1949 was promoted to assistant manager of the Charleston, S.C., store. In 1952, McGaughey moved to the Atlanta corporate office as assistant merchandise director. He was later assistant vice president and vice president of merchandise, and in 1984 was elected president and chief operating officer. He was named CEO in 1990 and held that post until his retirement in 1994. He also served on Havertys' board for 34 years.
McGaughey was a grandson of Havertys founder J.J. Haverty. In 1990, he gave the acceptance speech at the induction of J.J. Haverty into the American Furniture Hall of Fame.
"Frank was a leader who led from the front," said Clarence Smith, Havertys president and CEO. "He was my boss, my mentor and a great friend to all." Smith added that McGaughey was known as an "excellent merchant and a tough, but fair negotiator.... Havertys has benefited by his legacy of devoted service and leadership."
Retired Havertys CEO Jay Slater, who knew McGaughey since 1965, counts him as a best friend and mentor.
"He was a talent that far exceeded what he was recognized for," Slater said. "Under him, we brought in the regional manager setup. The first distribution center was under his guidance."
Jerry Epperson, industry analyst and managing direct of Richmond, Va.-based Mann, Armistead & Epperson, remembered McGaughey's great "insight into the way the business should be run," and how he worked to help others, from employees to industry friends through his trade association work.
Havertys Chief Financial Officer Dennis Fink said he was impressed by McGaughey's keen business acumen and his ability to "cut directly through complex situations to the solution. Frank was the epitome of a Southern gentleman."
A native of Atlanta, McGaughey was a decorated veteran of World War II, where he served with the 106th Infantry Division and saw heavy action.
He was active in business, civic and church organizations, including Horizon Inds., the National Retail Furniture Assn., the Katherine and Russell Bellman Foundation and the Mary E. Haverty Foundation. He was a member of the lay advisory board of Marist School and was named its Distinguished Alumnus of 1988.
Among his survivors are a son, Frank III, who is a Havertys board member, and two grandchildren who are market area managers for the company, Michael McGaughey in Orlando, Fla., and Barry Edleman in Fort Myers, Fla. Another son, Richard N. "Dick" McGaughey, is a sales representative for Flexsteel Inds.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Holy Spirit Catholic Church, 4476 Northside Drive, N.W., Atlanta, Ga., 30309, or The Marist School, 3790 Ashford Dunwoody Road N.E., Atlanta, Ga., 30319.
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