Saturday, December 24, 2005
Phillip Eugene Buddy Gregory, 71, an auctioneer who owned a contracting company and other businesses, died Dec. 15 at
Shady Grove Adventist Hospital of complications from an abdominal aneurysm. He lived in Laytonsville.
A Washington native and a 1953 graduate of McKinley Technology High School, Mr. Gregory attended the old Wilson Teachers
College in the District. In 1956, he enlisted in the Air Force but was honorably discharged because of complications from polio,
which he contracted as a child. In later years, he used canes and a motorized scooter to get around.
In 1957, Mr. Gregory founded the first of several businesses, a caulking and weather-stripping company. He was later the
co-founder of Circle 4, a property management company, and in 1976 joined with partner Ron Magaha to found Cornerstone
Inc., a general contracting company that operates in Beallsville.
Mr. Gregory and his wife settled in Laytonsville in 1963 and established Cuttin' Corners Farm, where they bred and raised
quarter horses. They had as many as 30 horses on their farm at its peak in the 1970s and showed horses up and down the
Eastern seaboard. Mr. Gregory was a member of the American and Maryland State Quarter Horse associations.
Having attended many horse auctions, Mr. Gregory decided to enter the auction business and in 1968 attended the Superior
School of Auctioneering in Decatur, Ill. In addition to his work at his construction company, he began to work on weekends as a
livestock auctioneer in Howard and Montgomery counties. He later expanded to estates, machinery and antiques.
In 1995, he was a founder of Gregory & Warfield Auctions, which his son now operates in Laurel.
Mr. Gregory was an auctioneer for 4-H clubs throughout the region and served as a board member of the Montgomery County
Fair. As chairman of the entertainment committee from 1993 to 1995, he helped bring a professional rodeo to the fair for the first
time.
Mr. Gregory was auctioneer for many charities and helped raise money for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. He was a member of
the National Auctioneers Association and the Auctioneers Association of Maryland. He was named Maryland auctioneer of the
year in 1998 and was inducted into the state's auction hall of fame in 2003.
He was a charter member of Laytonsville Baptist Church, now called Morning Star Community Church. He was also a Mason.
Mr. Gregory began to play bluegrass music as a teenager and continued to play guitar and sing throughout his life.
Survivors include his wife of 48 years, Jeannine Hannabass Gregory of Laytonsville; three children, Eydie G. Searles and Jenny
S. Gregory, both of Gaithersburg, and Roy J. Gregory of Mount Airy; two sisters, June Caldow of Virginia Beach and Myrna
Fitzgerald of Gainesville; and five grandchildren.