Mr. Mary Lou Ray

His parents were John L. and Mary Lou Ray.
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At age 12 Ray had a paper route with the Birmingham News to help his family with the finances.He always had a zest for succeeding. Mr. Ray attended schools at 11th Street Elementary, Disque Junior, Gadsden High and Tennessee Military Institute in Sweetwater, Tennessee.He received his Business Administration degree from Duke University. After college, he worked in Charlotte, North Carolina, at Dowd Press as a printing salesperson.His business degree was very helpful with his career in sales.Mr. Ray has sold yearbooks and other printed materials, insurance and real estate. After leaving North Carolina in 1950, he returned to Gadsden and worked as a casualty insurance agent with Everett and Carl Lay.After working a short time there he joined the office of Mutual of New York Life Insurance. Mr. Ray made a career change in 1954 when he went into the construction business.He continued with construction until he heard First State Bank of Altoona might be for sale.He and James Allen visited the bank and were concerned if they could find any employees who would move to Altoona to work.Mr. Ray did not let that apprehension stop him - he decided to run the bank himself. In 1960, Mr. Ray and Mr. Allen purchased the Merchants & Farmers Bank in Attalla and changed the name to Exchange Bank.