McGill legacy
A Town founder in late 1970s with decades of service, Mayor Ralph McGill passes
Dr. McGill died Monday night, June 25, “after a recent illness,” a Town press release stated. He was 75.
“Many of you know I have had some health concerns that I have been tending to for the past few months,” the mayor stated in his letter of resignation dated Tuesday, June 19.
Services for Mayor McGill, officiated by Click Funeral Home Farragut Chapel, will be held Friday evening, June 29, in the Worship Center of First Baptist Concord, 11704 Kingston Pike.
A viewing/visitation is from 5 to 6:45 p.m. The funeral will begin at 7 p.m.
Serving as mayor since April 2009, Dr. McGill will be buried in Pleasant Forest Cemetery Saturday, June 30, with the time yet to be announced at press deadline.
“I want to thank the staff for their support, the Board of Aldermen for your leadership, and most of all my wife (Marianne) and family for always standing by my side with their love and support,” Dr. McGill further stated in his letter. “I am proud of our accomplishments and I am proud of my Town. I know the future of Farragut is bright and will continue to shine through the future leaders of our community.”
His presence in Farragut was felt even before the Town was incorporated.
“We go back to the ’70s,” Farragut Municipal Planning Commissioner Betty Dick, who is part of the original group responsible for forming the Town, said during FMPC’s meeting Thursday, June 21.
Then, she broke down into tears. Dick said Mayor McGill had been admitted into the hospital Friday night, June 15.
“(Ralph) is the reason there is a Town of Farragut because we had no leader until we found Ralph, and he agreed to do it,” she recalled. “Everyone in Farragut (government) owes their job to Ralph McGill because there would be no town without him.”
“Mayor McGill had an enormous impact on our Town, starting with his efforts to help incorporate the Town of Farragut back in 1980 and through his recent service as mayor,” Town administrator David Smoak said. “We appreciate Mayor McGill’s leadership and his dedication to our great community.”
According to a Town press release, Vice Mayor Ron Pinchok will be sworn in as interim mayor at Farragut Board of Mayor and Aldermen’s next meeting at 7 p.m., Thursday, June 28, in Farragut Town Hall Board Room.
Pinchok, who was out of town on vacation, said he found out about the resignation Thursday morning. “I knew (Ralph) had something going on — but I don’t know the details ...,” he said.
“Ralph was one of our Town’s founders,” Pinchok added, describing his leadership as “exemplary. I want to offer my prayers.”
Pinchok said he decided to run for alderman, South Ward, five years ago only if Dr. McGill would run again. “I thought very highly of him.”
“I am incredibly sad about the passing of Mayor Ralph McGill,” said Alderman Louise Povlin, who represents the North Ward. “He has been and will continue to be an inspiration for those who serve the Town of Farragut.
“As a founding member of our Town, he led a group of concerned citizens in a battle against powerful developer forces who were giving no thought to how our community was growing,” she added. “His efforts helped to found this incredible Town we call home.
“In 2009, he felt compelled to step back into that leadership role and worked to find the balance between being business-friendly and protecting our existing residential nature.”
Asking Povlin to join Farragut Municipal Planning Commission in 2013, “I was deeply honored and deeply humbled by his belief in me, and I have tried to live up to his high standards and ideals about serving our Town,” she said. “Mayor McGill has served our Town honorably and with great dedication.
“I hope our community will join me in praying for Marianne, his devoted wife of 52 years, and his children,” Povlin added.
“With the passing of Mayor Ralph McGill, the Town of Farragut lost a champion and a hero,” said Alderman Bob Markli, who represents the North Ward. “A leader of the successful movement in 1979 and 1980 to incorporate the Town of Farragut, it can truthfully be said that without his efforts the Town might never have existed.
“He and I were elected at the same time in 2009 and as I reflect on those nine years serving side-by-side with him, four things stand out above his many accomplishments and achievements. Most of us know that he was a brilliant engineer, successful community organizer, leader and mayor,” Markli added. “But above all else he loved the Lord, he loved his family, he loved his country and he loved this little Town that bears so much of his imprint.
“This quiet, dignified man who battled serious illness much of his adult life never complained and never stinted in his service and dedication to the things he loved. And the citizens of Farragut will forever be indebted as beneficiaries of that love and devotion ... .”
“Last night Farragut lost one of it’s founders and a great Town leader,” Alderman Ron Williams, South Ward, said. “My wife and I were honored to be his friends. He will be remembered for his vision and missed by all.
“My wife and I have enjoyed Ralph and Marianne’s friendship since we moved back to Farragut years ago,” he added. “I have had the honor to serve with him on (Sugarwood Homeowner Association) boards and (then) as a alderman for our Town.”
Retiring in 2004 following a 26-year career at Oak Ridge National Lab, “Ralph has been a leader and visionary in his field of fuel and engine science, as well as for the Town of Farragut for the past 40 years. ... A career of many accomplishments,” Williams said.
“My love for the Town of Farragut runs deep, and it all got started over 40 years ago, when Marianne and I moved our family to this lovely community,” Dr McGill, a native of Charlotte, North Carolina, stated in his letter. “We had a great vision for our community, and through many people’s efforts we were able to incorporate our own little Town of Farragut in 1980, with slightly over 6,000 residents, so we could determine the future of how we would grow and develop.”
Dr. McGill and Dick were part of the small group disillusioned with Knoxville/Knox County government who set the wheels of incorporation in motion in the late 1970s. “Ralph is a very smart man, and he guided us through,” she said. “You know, we (incorporated) in 27 days, put everything together.
“We had been at (Knox County Commission and Knox County Planning Commission) meetings for two or three years,” Dick added. “We decided to get together and form a town.
“But none of us thought we were capable of taking the leadership role. Then, Ralph McGill took the helm.”
The Town was incorporated in 1980. Bob Leonard was elected its first mayor and Eddy Ford its second.
McGill, the Town’s third mayor, would be elected in 2009.
“When I ran for mayor in 2009, l wanted to help our Town become more receptive to business and help our community thrive,” McGill stated. “Fast forward all these years later, and I don’t think any of the original founders of the Town could have imagined how great our Town would become.”
Debt-free, the Town has operated without a property tax. Still, the mayor noted, “Farragut’s sales tax revenues have doubled; businesses have added over $142 million in real property improvements; we have added over 800 new homes with a total value of $268 million; and (we) were named the most business-friendly city by the Beacon Center of Tennessee.
“We have also enhanced our parks facilities by adding three new artificial turf fields at Mayor Bob Leonard Park, expanded McFee Park with the addition of the splash pad in Knox County, created an Outdoor Classroom for students and community groups to increase their experiential learning and preserved our heritage with the renovations that are ongoing at the Campbell Station Inn,” McGill further stated.
He added the Town also was able to make significant infrastructure investments with improvements to Everett, Old Stage, Watt and Campbell Station roads and numerous greenway trail connections throughout the Town.
