Grayson Guthrie
Mulhearn Funeral Home
Sterlington Road
Monroe, LA

Services for Mr. Grayson Guthrie, 89, of Monroe were at 2 p.m. Sunday, November 30, 1997 at St. Paul's United Methodist Church with Dr Warren Blakeman and Rev. Woody Hingle officiating. Burial was in Riverview Cemetery. Mr. Guthrie died Friday, November 28, 1997 at St. Francis Medical Center following a brief illness.

Mr. Guthrie was born at Greciean Bend Plantation in Ouachita Parish near Monroe and attended Ouachita Parish schools and Louisiana Tech University at Ruston. He joined Central Bank in 1929 as a teller, then rose through the ranks of the bank until being named Executive Vice President and a member of the Board of Directors in 1958. In June 1972 he was named President of Central Bank later becoming Vice Chairman of the Board and Advisory Director. Mr. Guthrie was active in banking circles after joining Central Bank. He was past president of the Louisiana bankers Association and the Northeast Louisiana Clearing House Association. He was also active in many civic affairs, having served as president of the Monroe chamber of Commerce, the United Chamber of Commerce, the United givers Fund, Monroe rotary club, the Louisiana Delta Council, and on the boards of numerous civic and charitable organizations, including the Ouachita Valley council of Boy Scouts. At one time, Mr. Guthrie served as Vice Chairman of the Monroe City School Board and was a past president of the Ouachita River Valley Association. He was a member of the Lotus Club and Bayou DeSiard Country Club. Mr. Guthrie's father was a prominent planter of Ouachita Parish and was instrumental in the development of the Monroe gas field. Mr. Guthrie was a charter member of St. Paul's United Methodist Church.

Survivors include: wife, Francis Mary Guthrie; 2 children: James G. Guthrie, Jr. of West Palm Beach, FL and Frances Guthrie Talley of New Orleans, LA; 1 grandchild: Frances Talley Jones of Dallas, TX; and Numerous nieces and nephews. Mr. Guthrie's nephews were pallbearers. Honorary Pallbearers were Officers and Directors of Central Bank, the Clifton Flynn Bible class and the Kind Words Club. Memorials may be made to St. Paul's Methodist Church Building Fund or the Monroe Symphony League Memorial Fund.