MOUNT AIRY, N.C.-The founder of one of North Carolina's oldest retread dealerships, Emery Dean Bray Sr., died Sept. 20 at the Northern Hospital of Surry County in Mount Airy. He was 88. Mr. Bray bought a tire dealership in Mount Airy in 1934 from Standard Oil Co. About six years later, the business began retreading tires and eventually was renamed Bray's Recapping Service.
He retired from Bray's Recapping around 1980, but continued to remain active in the business, according to his son, Dean Bray Jr., the firm's president.
Mr. Bray was a member of the National Tire Dealers & Retreaders Association and the North Carolina Tire Dealers & Retreaders Association.
Besides his son, survivors include his wife, Bessie; one daughter; one grandson, Dean Bray III, Bray's Recapping general manager and vice president; and two granddaughters, Shannon Bray and Becky Ebert, both of whom previously worked for the dealership.
Harris C. Taylor
BAKERSFIELD, Calif.-Harris Coombs Taylor, founder of Taylor Tire & Brake, died Jan. 26 in Mercy Hospital in Bakersfield after a brief illness.
After serving as a B-25 bomber pilot in Europe during World War II, Mr. Taylor and his uncle, George Barnett, opened Barnett's Goodyear, a retail tire/household appliance dealership, in 1953. He became the sole owner in 1972 and remained active in the business until he retired in 1984.
Mr. Taylor was a member of the California Tire Dealers & Retreaders Association-North.
In 1986 his son, Dick, who joined the firm in 1969, became head of the company and changed the name to T & R Automotive Inc., dba Taylor Tire & Brake.
Besides his son, survivors include his wife, Suzy, and a daughter.