OBITUARY: William Garth "Dooley" Gilchrist III

William Garth "Dooley" Gilchrist III was born in his great-grandmother's bedroom at Hopedale Plantation, Isaquena County, Miss., on the banks of Steele Bayou on May 3, 1932.

Dooley was an outstanding high school athlete and played on the University of Tennessee golf team. In college, Dooley majored in mechanical engineering and after college joined his father in the coal mining and construction business in Kentucky and Tennessee. Dooley expanded the business to Alabama and home to Mississippi. In 1962, Dooley, his father, his brother Bob, Ben Puckett (friend and Kappa Sigma fraternity brother) bought the Caterpillar franchise from the Stribling family and turned the business into the premier heavy equipment business in Mississippi.

In the 1970s, Dooley's love of hunting and the outdoors led him to African safaris. He eventually became a licensed professional hunter in Africa and America. A legend in his own time, Dooley is one of the few hunters ever to make the Grand Slam of Africa - elephant, lion, cape buffalo, leopard and rhino in one safari - five times. Dooley's safari feats are known worldwide for their unique style.