He received his primary and secondary education in the De Leon Public Schools. He attended John Tarleton Agricultural College in Stephenville, TX and was graduated from The University of Texas in January 1949 with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree. He studied in the Graduate School of Business of the University of Texas in 1949, 1954 and 1955. He served as a Guest Lecturer in Long Term Finance at the University of Texas.
Gregory was a member of the Reserve Officer Training Corp at the University of Texas, served as Cadet Lt Col (the ranking Air Force ROTC cadet officer), was designated as both a Distinguished Military Student and a Distinguished Military Graduate, and commissioned a 2nd Lt in the United States Air Force Reserve in June 1949. He served on active duty during the Korean War with the Far East Air Force. He served with Joint Task Force 132, which conducted the first test of a hydrogen bomb at Eniwetok Atoll in the Pacific Ocean.
From June 1949 through May 1964, Merrill Lynch, Pierce Fenner & Smith employed Gregory as an Account Executive in their Austin, Texas, office. Among his largest accounts were The Permanent Fund of the University of Texas and the Employees Retirement System of Texas. He was consistently recognized as one of their top financial consultants. In 1958 he was invited to become a stockholder in the firm. He resigned in May 1964 to pursue personal financial interests.
In 1959 Gregory was an organizer of Lamar Savings Institution, Austin, TX. He subsequently became the controlling stockholder of Lamar as well as First Savings and Loan Association, San Angelo, TX; Lubbock Savings and Loan Association, Lubbock, TX; and Home Savings Association of Dallas County, TX.
In 1946 Gregory was married to Betty Ruth Ellis, daughter of Oren Henry Ellis, Sr and Emma Ruth Williams Ellis of Stephenville, TX. Her father was owner of Ellis Insurance Agency and a large loan company; her mother was a housewife. A son was born in 1948 and a daughter in 1950. Reginald Wilson (Skip) Gregory, Jr lives in Houston, TX where he is a real estate developer. Anne Gregory Polansky lives in Nice, France where she is an executive with IBM.
Gregory sold his ownership in the four Texas Savings and Loan Associations is early 1966. At a neighborhood cocktail party in March 1966, Lyndon B. Johnson, then President of the United States, asked Gregory what he was going to do since he had sold his financial institutions. He further suggested that Gregory make a trip throughout Mexico, Central America, and South America to evaluate business opportunities. President Johnson provided the facilities and personnel of the United States Embassy in each country to act as host and introduce Gregory to investment opportunities. Gregory made 2 such trips visiting all countries from Mexico to Chile. He decided to make a financial investment in a large Mexican bus manufacturing company. In 1966 Gregory moved his residence from Austin TX to Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. Since 1966 Gregory has maintained a residence in Mexico. From 1966 until 1983 he was engaged in the manufacture of large interstate buses and the distribution of heavy-duty automotive components in Mexico.
In 1973 while driving from Dallas to Guadalajara, Gregory stopped in Austin to purchase tamales from a Swedish lady who was well known in the Austin area for her homemade tamales. She expressed to Gregory her frustration that cornhusks were almost impossible to obtain. Their conversation revealed that the recent intervention of the US Food and Drug Administration had virtually cut off the flow of cornhusks from Mexico. Gregory told her that he would investigate the problem. On his next trip to Dallas he visited the Regional Director of FDA to seek a solution to the problem of border rejection of Mexican cornhusks The Regional Director was very accomodating. He explained the new quality standards and arranged for the Director of the Regional Laboratory to conduct some lab tests of cornhusks in his presence so that he could personally observe the procedure. Gregory returned to Mexico and contacted one of the largest producers of cornhusks in Mexico to discuss the situation. From these meetings grew a friendship and business relationship. Gregory was marginally involved in the cornhusk industry in assisting several Mexican producers bring their product into compliance with US FDA requirements. Gregory observed a corn husk industry that was highly fragmented and very inefficient. The product passed through many hands from the cornfields to the end user. Each level occasioned expenses and a margin of profit. Worst of all the multiple levels of distribution made responsibility for quality control virtually impossible.
In 1977 Gregory decided to enter into the distribution of cornhusks in the United States. He would contract for the production of cornhusks by a select group of people who harvested the corn and operated rural processing plants. The husks would then be distributed directly to Mexican restaurants and Mexican food processors in the United States. Sales were generated by periodic direct mail contact with cornhusk users. Gregory's operations provided a higher quality product at a lower price. The business grew dramatically.
In 1987 the US FDA decided to enforce higher quality standards for cornhusks. Overnight the flow from Mexico was virtually shut off. The FDA decided to implement a program of automatic detention of all cornhusks entering the country until a lab exam indicated that samples taken from each shipment if fact met their standards. Virtually all cornhusks failed to pass the test.
Gregory conceived his REDI-PAK OPTIMA(R) cornhusks for tamales. Each husk would be carefully processed, inspected, and packaged. Each cornhusk would be usable and available in 4 sizes. The tamale producer could buy exactly the size he needed for his tamale and use it without waste or preparation labor. Gregory asked his Mexican suppliers to enforce his new quality standards. They tried but were unwilling or unable to get their workers to change their old methods of production. Gregory shut down the plants and recovered his assets (trucks, equipment, etc) that were on loan to his suppliers.
Gregory reopened a pilot operation where a small hand picked group of dedicated people undertook the production of "The Worlds Finest Cornhusks for Tamales." Gregory moved to the rural area of Mexico where the pilot project was operated so that he could daily be in in touch with its progress. Each person was assigned a number and it was entered and tagged on his or her work. Everyone was personally responsible for his or her product. The project was successful and Gregory started shipping small quantities of his REDI-PAK OPTIMA(R) into the United States. US Customs, FDA, and USDA inspectors were astonished at their cleanliness and quality.
The success of his project was confirmed when in 1991 the US Food and Drug Administration issued to R. W. Gregory a written order exempting him from the required automatic detention and laboratory examination of his cornhusks. The exemption was based on the proven quality and cleanliness of cornhusks produced under his program and supervision.
Gregory opened additional plants and increased production as fast as he could carefully train additional personnel. In 1993 Gregory contracted with another large cornhusk producer to devote his facilities to the production of his REDI-PAK OPTIMA(R) cornhusks under the careful observation of Gregory personnel.
Today R W Gregory Co ships cornhusks to customers in the United States, Alaska, Hawaii, Virgin Islands, Europe, and Russia.
In 1978 Gregory married Elaine Schroller Hoff, daughter of Leo Schroller and Eunice Rogers
Schroller of Pawnee, Texas. Elaine was the widow of Major Sam Hoff who was lost while piloting
his F-4 fighter jet over North Viet Nam in 1966. He was carried Missing In Action for 12 years.
Elaine retired from Delta Air Lines in 1995 after 28 years of service. She now serves as
President of The R W Gregory Group, Inc while Reginald serves as its Chairman of the Board of
Directors.
The R W Gregory Group, Inc consists of R W Gregory Co, R W Gregory (MEXICO), R W Gregory (USA),
R W Gregory (EAST), R W Gregory (WEST), and Equipocentro, SA de CV.
