Kyle McClure was a Pharmacy graduate of Howard College (Samford University today) who came to Montevallo after working for five years in Birmingham after graduation. In 1953, he worked as a pharmacist for nine months at Montevallo Drug Co. before getting the opportunity to buy out the venerable Wilson’s Drug Co. from Dr. P.C. Wilson who had operated the drug store “on the corner” since 1918.
McClure changed the name of the business to McClure Drug Co. and occupied only the corner half of the old building. At the same time, Nordan Hardware moved into the other half of the building after having been located in two other locations on Main Street since 1947. Nordan’s only lasted a few months before selling out to Haywood Wooley, a local painter, who continued to operate the hardware store for a few more years.
Kyle McClure had a good run with his store for about 10 years until his religious faith led him away from the business and toward evangelism. Another pharmacist and Samford graduate, Raybon Willingham from Heflin, AL, was working in 1964 at nearby Montevallo Drug Co. when McClure decided to sell the business. Willingham had become popular with his customers during his short tenure in town, so with his young wife’s blessing they soon became residents and the new owners of McClure Drug Co.
Wooley Hardware had vacated the other half of the building several years prior to the 1964 sale and the space had been used by the drug store for storage. An eccentric Montevallo business woman named ChiChi Garrett who taught dance lessons and operated a sewing shop decided that she needed more space for her tap, ballet, and ballroom dance classes. She also thought Montevallo would support a weekend dance club for teenagers and college students. It was not long before she moved both of her businesses into the space next to McClure’s, put down hardwood flooring, and converted the store into a dance studio by day and after-dark teenage hangout called, “The Shevallo Activities Club.” ChiChi’s vision for the club was a little short-sighted, so after many enthusiastic attempts to showcase live bands for boy/girl dance nights, she realized there was not enough interest or parental support in town to keep her afloat. Not so long after, she had to close her doors and the space reverted again to storage.
Raybon Willingham’s business instincts came naturally, so he was quick to understand that the customers of McClure Drug Co., even without Kyle McClure, associated the name with good, dependable service and reliable products, so he was in no hurry to change it as long as those familiar faces continued coming through the door. It did not take long for Willingham to build a thriving business and begin to make plans for a major renovation and expansion of the store. He also saw opportunity throughout Shelby County and Birmingham’s southern suburbs and began to dream of opening a string of stores all across the area.
By the fall of 1966, Willingham had arranged to hire a former classmate at Samford, Greg Eanes, to work for him as a pharmacist and free him up to begin realizing his ambitious business agenda. Eanes moved to Montevallo with his wife and had not been on the job very long before tragedy struck.
One evening after closing, Raybon was to drive to Birmingham to meet his wife, Patricia, for dinner at her parents’ home there. He had indulged his new-found prosperity not long before and impulsively purchased a powerful new Porche 911 sports car. In 1966, the interstate highway system did not extend far into Shelby and Jefferson Counties, so the 4-lane highway 31 through Alabaster was the main artery at the time into the Birmingham area from the south. Unlike today, the intersection of highway 31 and highway 119 in the Indian Springs area was not controlled by a red light, only a stop sign. As Raybon approached this perpendicular intersection in his Porche (his speed unknown), another car suddenly entered his path from the right and he slammed into it broadside. The Porche was a small car with essentially no driver protection and in those days no one wore seat belts, so Raybon Willingham was killed instantly.
His wife, friends, and family were devastated by Raybon’s untimely death. He had a memorable funeral at the Montevallo Methodist Church and was buried soon after in Heflin.
Greg Eanes stepped up to keep the drug store operating, making sure that customers’ prescription needs were fulfilled until a decision was made about what to do with the business. Patricia Willingham made a valiant effort to keep the business operating for a few months as a tribute to Raybon’s vision and dream, but it soon became too much for her and so she sold it to Greg Eanes. Eanes worked hard at keeping his new Greg Eanes Drug Co. afloat, but he never enjoyed the success that Willingham achieved. Chronic and long-standing health problems also dogged him from the start and eventually were his undoing.
Walt Czeskleba opened his TV repair business in 1972 in the former dance studio portion of the building that Eanes had been using for storage. Following Eanes’ death in the mid-1970’s and the closing of the drug store, Czeskleba eventually took over the corner space as part of his business and has been there ever since.
Thank you to Clay Nordan, Vice President of Montevallo Historical Society, for this information!
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