Carmichael, former highway and rail official, dies at 88

Gilbert “Gil” Ellzey Carmichael, who held presidential-appointed transportation administration posts in the 1970s, died Jan. 31 at his home in Meridian, Miss.    Gilbert “Gil” Ellzey Carmichael died Jan. 31 at his home in Meridian, Miss. at the age of 88.
   Carmichael was born in Columbia, Miss., on June 27, 1927. After graduating high school in 1944, he served in the U.S. military from 1945-46, and graduated from Texas A&M University in 1950 with a degree in business. Carmichael was commissioned as a Coast Guard officer during the Korean War and awarded the Treasury secretary’s Silver Life Saving Medal. He then moved to Meridian in 1961 and opened two automobile dealerships and a real estate development company.
   He was appointed to the Amtrak Reform Council by Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott in 1998, and in January 1999 became the council’s chairman. 
   President Ford appointed Carmichael to the National Transportation Policy Study Commission on which he served from 1976 to 1979. He also served by presidential appointment as chairman of the National Highway Safety Advisory Committee to the Transportation Department secretary from 1973 to 1976.
   He is credited with initiating in 1987 a 1077-mile, four-lane highway construction program in Mississippi, and recognized for establishing a 700-mile regional railroad in East Mississippi and West Alabama, now a major part of the Kansas City Southern Railroad.
   In addition, Carmichael was one of the founders of the University of Denver’s Intermodal Transportation Institute.
   Carmichael is survived by his wife of 63 years, Carolyn Dean “Deanie” White Carmichael; his son, Gilbert Scott Carmichael and his wife, Laura; and grandchildren.