Fulton County GaArchives Obituaries.....Grizzard, Claude Tiller, Jr March 20, 2005
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The Atlanta Hournal-Constitution
Grizzard, Claude Tiller Jr.
OBITUARIES: ATLANTA	Claude T. Grizzard Jr., 98, direct mail pioneer, civic 
leader 	Author:    Derrick Henry

A quarter short of graduating from Georgia Tech with the second highest grade 
point average in his class, Claude T. Grizzard Jr. quit school to try his hand 
in the fledgling direct mail business.  He became a giant of the direct 
marketing industry. In 1928, he started working for LeGette Letter Service at 
a four-person production facility that folded customized letters, stuffed 
envelopes, then delivered them to the post office.

Later that year he took over the business, changing its name to Grizzard 
Advertising in 1933.

Under Mr. Grizzard, the company became one of the country’s 10 largest full-
service mail advertising agencies.  It grew to more than 600 employees with 
nine offices across the country and annual sales of nearly $125 million.

Mr. Grizzard, 98, died Tuesday at his Atlanta residence of congestive heart 
failure.  The funeral is 2 p.m. today at Haygood Memorial United Methodist 
Church.  A. S. Turner & Sons is in charge of arrangements.

“Dad was a creative person, “ said his son, Claude H. Grizzard Sr. of Stone 
Mountain, CEO of Grizzard Advertising for 30 years.  “He would write copy and 
do artwork.  He did other things as well.  He would go into, say, a 
neighborhood drugstore and develop a direct mail marketing strategy for them 
and their customers.  Then Dad would go to a drugstore across town and 
say, ‘here’s a program that works, and since you don’t compete with them, they 
won’t care if I sell this program to you.’”

In 1944, Mr. Grizzard branched out to fund-raising campaigns.  “He’d create a 
campaign for the Salvation Army in Atlanta, then go to the Salvation Army in 
Augusta and Rome, “ his son said.  “He could run their campaigns a whole lot 
cheaper than they could do themselves.”

Mr. Grizzard enjoyed the fund-raising work so much that in 1954 he joined 
forces with Beatrice Haas to create Grizzard and Haas, the first professional 
fund-raising consulting firm in the Southeast.

Over the next 35 years, that firm planned fund-raising campaigns for schools, 
colleges, hospitals, the Arts Alliance, Habitat for Humanity, and the American 
Red Cross, among others. It directed four Forward Atlanta campaigns and 22 
campaigns for the Joint Tech-Georgia Development Fund to increase faculty 
salaries.

When Mr. Grizzard co founded Grizzard and Haas, “he decided to turn Grizzard 
Advertising over to the younger generation,”  said Glenn Summerlin of Atlanta, 
president of the firm for 20 years.

Mr. Grizzard was a straight shooter, totally trustworthy,”  Mr. Summerlin 
added.  “He did what he said he would; he didn’t interfere or micromanage.”  
After selling Grizzard & Haas around 1990, Mr. Grizzard returned to work three 
days a week at Grizzard Advertising, now Grizzard Communications Group, run by 
his grandson Claude H. “Chip” Grizzard Jr. of Lawrenceville.  He never retired.

He was much in demand as a civic leader.  He served on the Salvation Army 
board more than 50 years, directed the Atlanta Chamber of Commerce two terms 
and was a director of the Camp Fire Girls and Goodwill Industries of Atlanta.

According to his own records, he was the first man to be a president of a PTA 
in Georgia, at Henry Grady High School.  In 1940 he directed Roy LeCraw’s 
successful campaign for mayor of Atlanta, helping him become the only 
candidate to defeat William B. Hartsfield for the job.

Mr. Grizzard, who loved boating, volunteered for the U. S. Coast Guard 
Auxiliary on Lake Lanier, patrolling for boats in distress.

In 1976 the Atlanta Chamber of Commerce named him on of the 200 people who had 
contributed the most to growth and development of Atlanta.

Survivors include two daughters, Pat Leak of Atlanta and Martha Walton of 
Hamilton; a sister Frances Dover of Fruitland Park, Fla.; six other 
grandchildren; and 13 great-grandchildren.


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