Layden Gilbert “Gil” Marlowe died Monday, July 14, 2008, at his home in Biltmore Forest.

     He was born in Charlotte Dec. 14, 1927, and moved with his family to Asheville in 1928. He grew up in the Montford neighborhood and was graduated from Lee H. Edwards High School in 1944.             

     At age 17, he enlisted in the United States Navy and served on Guam at the end of World War II. While serving in the Navy, he was a member of the military all-star All-Pacific basketball team.

     Following four years of active duty, he returned to Asheville and enrolled at Asheville-Biltmore College, where he was active in athletics. The Cosmic Club of Asheville named him “Most Valuable Player” in football in 1950.

     Marlowe was a varsity athlete at Furman University, Greenville, S.C., where he was graduated in 1953. He was a member of the Furman football team’s starting line-up throughout his college career.

     In 1953, he married the former Bette Huntsman, who died in 1983. He is survived by a daughter, Lauri Childs, and her husband John and sons Carter and Stuart, all of Atlanta; and a son, Gilbert “Rocky” Marlowe Jr., and his wife, June, and their children Gilbert, Liza and Kate, all of St. Louis.

     Marlowe began his business career with a bridge building company in Lebanon, Ohio, in 1953. He later joined the Asheville Steel & Salvage Co. He became chairman and chief executive officer of Asheville Steel Co., Asheville Machine and Foundry and Asheville Industrial Supply of Asheville and Johnson City, Tenn.

     While CEO of Asheville Steel, he directed the company’s building of the Sun Sphere, landmark tower for the Knoxville World’s Fair.

     Throughout his business career, Marlowe was active in the annual campaigns of United Way of Asheville and Buncombe County. In the 1970s, he arranged for the Asheville Steel construction crane to suspend a small building high above Pack Square. Well-known Ashevilleans spent time in the “cage” as a fundraising effort for United Way.

     Marlowe was an early backer of The Bank of Asheville, later merged with NationsBank and The Bank of America. He served on the city board of directors of the original The Bank of Asheville for 17 years. He was chairman of Western Carolina Industries and served a term as president of the Asheville Sales and Marketing Executives Club in 1970.

     He was a member of The Cathedral of All Souls, Biltmore Village, where funeral services are to be held at 2 p.m. on Saturday, July 19.  Internment will follow at Calvary Churchyard, Fletcher.