Luther Sylvester Gartrell III, age 76, was born on July 23, 1949, in Ashville, Alabama, and passed away on Friday, May 29, 2026, surrounded by loved ones.

This was technically his second death. More than fifty years earlier, while still in his twenties, he was shot in the stomach, died on the way to the hospital, and had to be resuscitated. “But I deserved it,” he later told a friend. “I was cheating at cards.”

Perhaps that rugged sense of justice led him to study law. He became an attorney in Ashville, where he was an institution for nearly half a century. For decades, his office sat just off the St. Clair County Courthouse square where it was known to generations of local residents.

This was not an ordinary life.

In 1967, he graduated from Georgia Military Academy. As a young cadet, he marched before President Lyndon B. Johnson, and later in life he would shake hands with President Ronald Reagan on two separate occasions. After GMA, he attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, graduating in 1971. He earned his Juris Doctor from the Birmingham School of Law in 1976. Then, for the next fifty years, right up until his death, he practiced law.

His intellectual achievements were matched by an equally impressive athletic record. He served as captain of every wrestling team he joined, beginning at Georgia Military Academy, where he compiled a record of 72 wins and 12 losses and won both First Place and Most Valuable Wrestler honors at the 1967 Woodward Open Atlanta Area Tournament. At Chapel Hill, he went on to place 12th nationally in the 1968 NCAA Wrestling Championships. In 2008, he was inducted into the St. Clair County Sports Hall of Fame.

Luther was an avid outdoorsman and adventurer who lived life to the fullest. He hunted ducks in the Chesapeake Bay. He traveled extensively, visiting countries like Mexico, Guatemala, Ecuador, Panama, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Australia, Singapore, and Thailand, and at one point he owned land in the Bahamas. He especially loved deep-sea fishing. He caught salmon and tuna in Oregon, sailfish off the coast of Costa Rica, and countless other species in waters around the world. He was a member of the Old South Marlin Club and represented America in the Hawaiian International Billfish Tournament. He loved animals, farming, and nature in all its expressions. He often said, “Don’t ever live anywhere you can’t pee off the back porch.”

Whether in a boat or a courtroom, from wrestlers to roosters, he was, above all else, a fighter who loved the thrill of competition. Even in the end, he was still battling nurses.

It was obvious to anyone who met him that he loved being in command. But those who knew him best also saw his eagerness to serve, especially through cooking. He loved smoking and grilling meat for family and friends. He fried catfish, cooked greens, and kept a special cast-iron skillet reserved exclusively for his famously good cornbread.

His sense of humor was provocative, sometimes even diabolical. It was not always clear whether he wanted you to laugh or throw up. You did not open a text message from him in public without looking both ways first. And if there was a video attached, you might not want to open it at all.

Yet he also possessed an almost saintly side.

He helped those in need on a nearly daily basis. Many evenings were spent answering collect calls from places such as Julia Tutwiler Prison for Women and offering free legal advice in his honest, direct, and occasionally blunt manner. There was no greater friend or advocate for the downtrodden, people who often had no one else willing to help them. Stories have been told—and will continue to be told for years—by those he assisted and by those who witnessed his generosity. But we will never know how many lives he touched, because he never spoke of it.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Dr. Luther S. Gartrell II and Dorothy S. Gartrell, and by three brothers, Anthony S. Gartrell, Bill McGuire, and Leo McGuire.

He is survived by his devoted wife, Alicia; his beloved sisters, Elizabeth Moore and Dorothy Gartrell; his three sons, Scott, Luther, and Laurin; four grandchildren; ten nieces and nephews; and a large circle of friends, clients, and admirers.

The funeral service will be held on Saturday, June 27th at Greater Grace Church, 977 Formans Drive, Ashville, Alabama. Visitation will begin at 10:00 a.m., followed by the service at 11:00 a.m. Afterward, a celebration of Luther's life will be held at American Legion Post 170, 21320 U.S. Highway 11, and all are welcome to attend.

He lived life to the fullest, fought hard, laughed hard, and helped more people than anyone will ever know.