Walter Montgomery Jr. traveled around the world for business and pleasure. Of all the exotic locations he visited, one of his favorite places was just up the road at Lake Summit near Hendersonville, N.C., where he spent summers for most of his life.
Montgomery, the former president of Spartan Mills, died Oct. 4 at his home. He was 93.
Montgomery and his family were heavily involved in the Spartanburg community, and Wofford shared in their generosity. The Montgomery Music Building was named for them after a gift from Montgomery and his wife, Betty, and his sister, Rose Montgomery Johnston, and their families funded the renovation of the building. A room in Burwell Building also bears the Montgomery name, and in 2017 they established the Betty and Walter Montgomery Jr. Endowed Scholarship Fund.
“Walter Montgomery was a giant in the textile industry,” says Wofford President Nayef Samhat. “He was a tremendous friend not just to Wofford College, but to Spartanburg as well. Generations of Wofford students have benefited and will continue to benefit from the generosity of Walter Montgomery and his family.”
Montgomery grew up in a home on Main Street in Spartanburg that eventually became the Piedmont Club. On rainy days, he enjoyed roller skating in the third-floor ballroom.
He graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1951, then enrolled in the Harvard Business School. After graduating from Harvard, Montgomery served in the U.S. Army.
Montgomery began his 50-year career with Spartan Mills, the family business, in 1955. He headed the sales office in New York City for 14 years, and he returned to Spartanburg in 1971 to become president. Under his leadership the company grew to over 5,000 employees, making it Spartanburg County’s largest employer at the time.
In addition to giving generously to the community, Montgomery held leadership positions in a variety of educational and civic organizations. He served on the board of trustees of Converse College, the vestry of the Church of the Advent and as chair of the Spartanburg County Foundation. He also served on the board of Christ School, his alma mater, in Arden, N.C., for more than 50 years.
Montgomery was a member and chairman of the South Carolina Textile Manufacturers Association, and he served on the boards of Barclays American Bank, South Carolina National Bank, Allendale Insurance and Piedmont Natural Gas.
On March 4, 1984, a helicopter carrying Montgomery, Roger Milliken, George Dean Johnson, Dick Pennell and John Hamrick crashed on a return trip from the Palmetto Business Forum in Columbia. Everyone aboard survived, and the experience led Montgomery to take his young family on an annual adventure to a far-off place.
Montgomery enjoyed sailing the waters of Greece, a summer tradition he shared with his family and friends until 2022. During his later years he also enjoyed traveling to rural parts of China, Mongolia, Myanmar, Papua New Guinea and India.