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Peggy Crosby Center Tribute To Wiley
Issue: 2021/08 – August
The words and ideas of our beloved Wiley Sloan are still resonating in Highlands and Cashiers, a year after his passing.
W
hile not a big man, Wiley Sloan was larger than life to those who knew and loved him. A gracious, gregarious personality, he always knew the answer to questions of any sort or where to find them.
Wiley thought that the Peggy Crosby Center was the most under-recognized non-profit in Highlands, and he undertook a campaign to rectify that situation. Thanks to the generosity of The Laurel publishers Janet Cummings and Marjorie Christiansen, PCC is allowed to have an article in each edition of The Laurel during the season and Wiley wrote most of them during his tenure at The Laurel. Those he didn’t write, he edited and added his “magic touch.”
Thanks to his suggestion that we feature our Heritage Trees in one article, PCC began a program of improving the landscape on our campus that has developed into a recognized spot on the Highlands Plateau Greenway.
He supported us with his words, his donations, and his tireless recommendations to think outside the box. He was a true cheerleader for PCC and we miss him.
PCC Board Member Fred Smith says, “Wiley was a doer in the best way. He had a gift for seeing what needed to be done and doing it without worrying about obstacles. He was a very busy volunteer but would always find time to be helpful if I had a question about something relating to our community.”
We are grateful to Mountain Findings, which Wiley supported for many years, for giving us a grant in Wiley’s memory that has allowed us to jumpstart our plan to improve the safety of our building and tenants by installing modern defibrillators at PCC.
While we miss Wiley’s physical presence, his transcendence abides always.
by Ellis McIntyre, former Board Chair,
Peggy Crosby Community Service Center
and long-time friend of Wiley and Sarah Sloan.
