A visionary is broadly defined as a person who can envision the future. One who is ahead of his or her time.

    Meridian businessman Gil Carmichael is being remembered by friends and colleagues for imagining the possibilities of the future – nationwide and especially for his hometown.

    Carmichael died Sunday at Anderson Regional Medical Center. He was 88.

    “Real vision is all too rare a gift. And those who possess that gift challenge our comfortable status quo, perhaps even frighten us with the breadth of what they see that we do not,” said longtime friend and former Meridian mayor John Robert Smith.

    “Gil Carmichael was such a visionary,” Smith said.

    Carmichael’s passing came just three days after he was honored by U.S. Senator Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) for his service in the U.S. Coast Guard and his participation in a daring rescue mission in 1952.

    “Gil Carmichael was an honorable and forward-thinking leader, whose public service, business and political endeavors made Mississippi better,” Cochran stated in a release about Carmichael’s passing. “He set an admirable example for current and future leaders of our state.

     “I am saddened by the passing of Gil Carmichael, and extend my condolences to his family and friends at this difficult time,” Cochran said.

     U.S. Senator Roger Wicker (R-Miss) also remembered Carmichael’s ingenuity and courage.

    “Mississippians have lost a great man. Gil Carmichael was a brave, innovative, and forward-thinking leader who contributed to the success of our state,” said Wicker in a released statement. “His valor as a member of the Coast Guard in 1952, helped save the lives of 70 men caught in a storm off the coast of Cape Cod, Mass. That dramatic rescue has inspired generations of Guardsmen and was recently memorialized in the film ‘The Finest Hours.’”

    Closer to home, Meridian businessman Lamar McDonald recalled when he first met Carmichael.

    “He immediately got involved in the community,” McDonald said. “He was a great citizen, actively involved in politics and a very good friend. I will miss him terribly.”

    Carmichael made numerous achievements following his outstanding military career, including running for statewide office in the 1960s, as a candidate for the U.S. Senate in 1972, twice for governor in 1975 and 1979, and once for lieutenant governor in 1983.

    A Mississippi delegate to the Republican National Convention, Carmichael is recognized as a pioneer in state politics.

     “As a Republican pioneer in Mississippi, Gil took up the GOP standard at a time when many were reluctant to understand the importance of the two-party system,” Wicker said.

    Longtime friend Gene Damon – also recognized as a Republican pioneer in Mississippi – affectionately described his GOP cohort as “Complicated like a Swiss Watch, but he was a Scotchman; so he was a Scotch Swiss Watch. He and I were very close; we shared a lot of experience. We will miss him terribly.”

    Carmichael’s other accomplishments include: appointment to the National Highway Safety Advisory Committee in 1973, becoming chairman of the advisory committee until 1976; Federal commissioner  for the National Transportation Policy Study Commission, 1976-79; administrator of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Railroad Administration, 1989-93, later serving as chairman of the Amtrak Reform Council.

    While Carmichael shared his visions nationwide, he always remembered Meridian.

    “He always had a driving vision for his hometown of Meridian, which he often shared with me during my time in office, and since,” Smith said. “But he is best remembered nationally for his love and vision for a national rail system, especially passenger rail.”

    Wicker also applauded Carmichael’s contributions to the nation’s rail industry.

     “For the past 30 years, he has been an authoritative voice on our nation’s rail infrastructure,” he said. “I was grateful to have his advice and counsel last year when I authored legislation to reform and improve America’s railways. Our nation is a better place today because of Gil Carmichael.”

    While serving as Federal Railroad Administrator, Carmichael awarded Meridian a $35,000 grant, of which was the beginning of Meridian’s Union Station Multi-Modal Transportation Center.

    “Gil’s vision could encompass designating the first five high-speed rail corridors, but also the importance of serving smaller cities and towns – like his own hometown of Meridian,” Smith said.

    Smith, who now serves as chairman of Transportation for America, expressed appreciation to Carmichael for being a father figure.

    “When you lose your father as early in life as I did, you long for that older gentleman who will take you under his wing and make you part of his vision, and genuinely care about your success and well-being,” he said. “I was blessed to have Gil Carmichael as one of those two men in my life. Gil was a quintessential Southern gentleman, and a genuinely good soul.”

    “I’m a better man for knowing Gil, and Meridian is a better place because it was Gil’s hometown.

    Funeral arrangements are incomplete at Wright’s Funeral Home in Quitman.