Malcolm E. Sprinkle

Mr. Malcolm E. ?Mac? Sprinkle, 73, long-time owner and operator of Confidential Loan and Finance Company and a resident of Trotwood Avenue, died Tuesday at Williamson Medical Center after a battle with multiple Myeloma, a rare and incurable form of cancer. Funeral services for Mr. Sprinkle will be conducted Saturday at 2:00 p.m. at the Williams Funeral Home in Columbia with Reverend John Olivares and Randy Barlow officiating. Entombment will be the Polk Memorial Gardens Mausoleum. The family will visit with friends Thursday from 5:00 until 9:00 p.m. and Friday from 4:00 until 9:00 p.m. at the funeral home. The Spray, North Carolina native was the son of the late Charles and Nellie Sprinkle and husband of Natalya Alekcanqrovna Sprinkle. Mr. Sprinkle, who was well known as a successful businessman and philanthropist, was a four-time recipient of the Ronald Reagan Republican Gold Medal Award and a regional advisor to the president. He was a self-made man from modest beginnings. Mr. Sprinkle was born in Spray, a cotton mill company town in North Carolina now known as Eden. Mr. Sprinkle served a tour of duty in the United States Army, then enrolled at Elon College, a Christian sponsored school in Elon, North Carolina. He left college after a year. After a stint as a professional photographer, he started working with Home Credit Company when the commercial finance business was still in its infancy. Mr. Sprinkle once said that he always wanted to be a banker. ?If I couldn?t have money, I wanted to be where the money was?. Home Credit Company transferred him to Columbia in 1962. Sprinkle left Home Credit Company in 1966 and founded Confidential Loan Company with a group of local investors. He bought out his partners in 1973 and became the driving force behind Confidential Loan, the position he held until his death. Because of his contributions to the community, both personally and on behalf of Confidential Loan, Mr. Sprinkle was the first target for fundraisers for many years. Memories from his childhood and early life influenced much of Mr. Sprinkle?s giving. When fundraising began for construction of the Columbia YMCA, Mr. Sprinkle was one of the first major contributors. At Christmas time, Mr. Sprinkle was a generous contributor to causes that support needy children and when Columbia was re-establishing its tradition of staging a Christmas parade. Mr. Sprinkle arranged for Santa and a team of live reindeer to come to town for several parades. His one condition was that he, Santa, and Prancer a reindeer were to spend most of the parade day visiting and taking a special touch of Christmas to nursing homes and daycare centers that tended to needy children. Recognizing the value of an education, Mr. Sprinkle contributed tens of thousands of dollars to create a scholarship fund for needy students at Columbia State Community College. He has also funded scholarships for the Miss Maury County and many of the area scholarship pageants. His appreciation to the Christian Church for its support for the college he attended prompted Malcolm to present the Columbia Christian church with a concert grand piano ending the Church?s fundraising drive on the day it began. In addition to expressing his appreciation, the piano was given to honor the memory of the mother of a close friend. A few days later, Malcolm presenting the Pleasant Heights Baptist Church with a similar concert grand piano to memorialize the daughter of a friend, who had lost her life in an automobile accident. When the rural volunteer fire department needed a pumper truck and launched a solicitation program, Malcolm wrote the check to finish out the total. When the March of Dimes embarked on ?Mission Impossible?, an innovative program designed to honor women and generate funds for birth-defect research, Malcolm provided the funding for the awards banquet. The event generated just over $15, 000 per year for the several years in the early and mid 1990?s. Mr. Sprinkle was a major contributor to the establishment of Hope House and the Exchange Club Family Center in Columbia, and was recognized as the Shrine Hospital?s longest-term contributor in Columbia, giving each year since he went into business as an independent. Mr. Sprinkle has always demonstrated an appreciation for the arts. He raised thousands of dollars for the Maury County Arts Guild over a period of years by manning the bean-pot at the Meriwether Lewis Arts and Crafts Fair. He also sponsored and funded the production of Annie, one of the Arts Guild?s first major productions. In addition to his wife, he is survived by a son, Steve Sprinkle of Columbia, TN; a step daughter, Anastasya Sinyatkina of Columbia, TN; two grandchildren, Chris Amy Sprinkle of Culleoka, TN and Jennifer Elizabeth Rob Beets of Nashville, TN; two great grandsons, Jacob Sprinkle of Culleoka, TN and Parker Beets of Nashville, TN; three step great grandchildren, Schyler Stampfly Lyndsey Stampfly, and Philip Stampfly all of Culleoka, TN; life-long friend and assistant, Linda Garbarina of Columbia, TN. Pallbearers will be Steve Loftin, Richard Thompson, Harold Reed, Gary Howell, Richard Curry, Glen Cox, Wade Matheny, Dorris Lovett, and Henry Bledsoe. Honorary pallbearers are Harold Dillon, Nancy Thompson, Dr. Jimmy Kelley, Donna Brooks, Terrence Cooksey, Joyce Cheek, Linda Garbarina, Bill Baldwin, and Floyd Norman. Individuals named by Mr. Sprinkle as Honorary pallbearers who have passed away include Judge Jimmy Matthews, Harry Pressnell, Ted Davis, James ?Cotton? Rippey, William ?Bill? Baltzer, Ottis Thompson, Sen. Edward Blank, and Judge Jock Steenbergen.