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Gulf Breeze Mayor Passes Away Malcolm Lane Gilchrist, longtime Mayor of Gulf Breeze, passed away Friday, June 12, 2009. Mayor Gilchrist was born in Birmingham on November 26, 1936, the eldest son of Malcolm William Gilchrist, Jr. and Marjorie Enzor Gilchrist. After graduating from Pensacola High School he enrolled as an NROTC student at Auburn University, earning his engineering degree and Navy commission. Following active Navy service, he began his 35 year career as an engineer with Gulf Power Company, retiring in 1996. He served twenty years in the Naval Reserve after active duty, rising to the rank of Commander and serving as commanding officer of USS TWEEDY. He first served the City of Gulf Breeze ten years as Councilman then as Mayor for seventeen. He is survived by his wife of forty-seven years, Suzanne, their two sons Malcolm Lane Gilchrist, Jr. and his wife Tsahai, of New York, NY and Michael Enzor Gilchrist of Fairmont, WV; and his brothers David Gilchrist of Birmingham and Joe Gilchrist of Pensacola. Mayor Gilchrist was a vestryman at St. Francis of Assisi Episcopal Church, a member of Gulf Breeze Rotary and Optimist clubs and Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity.
Below is the text from the Offical Nomination form to the Florida League of Cites that had been prepared for nominating Mayor Gilchrist for the E. Harris Drew Municipal Official Lifetime Achievement Award. Lane Gilchrist was first elected to the Gulf Breeze City Council in 1982. He has served continuously to the present day as Councilman, Mayor Pro Tem and as Mayor for the past 17 years. Mayor Gilchrist has used his educational background from Auburn University, training as an officer in the U.S. Navy, and his years as an electrical engineer for Gulf Power Corporation to be a steady, guiding hand in the growth and success of the City of Gulf Breeze. Some of the Milestones or highlights of Lane Gilchrist's service to the City of Gulf Breeze are: Mayor Gilchrist is a member of the City's two strongest and most civically involved service organizations in Gulf Breeze. Having been a Rotary member since 1975, Gilchrist is an active Paul Harris Fellow and reflects the Rotary's creed of service to the community. As a member of the Optimist Club, Lane was instrumental in the development and building of the City's recreational parks. Gilchrist had the understanding that our youth needed a safe and secure place to play. He steadily guided the City of Gulf Breeze through strikes from four major hurricanes (Erin and Opal both in 1995, Ivan in 2004 and Dennis in 2005) in the last two decades. The City completely rebuilt its park system after Hurricane Ivan. Served as president of the Fairpoint Regional Utility System. In the late 1990's, the future delivery of potable water became an issue on the Gulf Breeze peninsula. Mr. Gilchrist was a charter member of this board which has built five water wells and over 20
Expanded the City's loan sponsorship program from the one sponsorship program in 1992 to over 20 at present, these programs serve to reduce costs for borrowers and diversify the City's revenue base. The City's top priority is a safe environment for its citizens. Under Mayor Gilchrist's leadership, the City's Police Department was the first accredited department in Northwest Florida. The Gulf Breeze Police Department has won the Rocky Pomerance Award for excellence in a small town Police Department from 2001 to 2006. And was runner up in 2007. This award recognizes excellence in policing and encourages member law enforcement agencies to share with their peers those programs they've developed to address community problems. Mayor Gilchrist encouraged now Florida State Representative, District 3, Clay Ford to get involved in the Florida League of Cities. Councilman Ford attended numerous league functions and served as a board member from 2000-2006. Clay Ford was president of the Florida League of Cities Board in 2005 and served on the Florida Municipal Insurance Trust Board from 1998-2004 and chaired that Board from 11/2001-11/2002. Mayor Gilchrist has organized, chaired and attended hundreds of meetings over his 27 year tenure with the City. Many of these were at considerable personal expense and time. His salary for his service to the citizens of Gulf Breeze is $1.00 per year. The E. Harris Drew Award would be a fitting recognition of his years of public service. Lane Gilchrist helped transform the City of Gulf Breeze from a City that did not have adequate resources in 1982 to provide safe levels of street lighting for its citizens to a leader in the provision of municipal services in northwest Florida. His sense of public service and dedication have been critical to the City's success.
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