Salisbury the Magazine has featured hundreds of special people. But one special story about a good man may have been the most successful ever. Bob Mault and his wife Ruby were featured in the winter 2021/2022 edition, and probably no one has enjoyed it more. They got a double delivery at the service station and got help rounding up all the magazines they could. Mault had a long list of people that he wanted to have one of those magazines, largely because he wanted to personally hand each one a copy while crediting their efforts.

That was the kind of man Mault was. He had an exceptional ability to see a project worth doing. Then he thought it through, began the physical work and soon all around him, people wanted to help. And he was known for a few tears when he knew his projects had turned out well. Mault died Wednesday, Oct. 18, at age 89.

Most of his South Rowan neighbors will remember Bob Mault for his vision of a military museum to honor local veterans. He reclaimed an old community school, gathered keepsakes that came home from several wars and momentum took over. Patterson School was in poor shape, used for storage and considered near the end of its useful life. Mault saw something different.

The Price of Freedom Museum was just the most recent of Mault’s projects. Many others began with his two service stations, which he started as a 19-year-old. Next up was creating one of the most successful softball programs in the history of the county. Huge nightly crowds packed Five Forks Fellowship Field from 1971-1982, the meeting place for up to 11 local churches with leagues for men, women and youth.

Next, Mault played a huge part in the establishment of New Hope Presbyterian Church in China Grove. Then came his vision of transforming the church property into the village of Bethlehem and with the help of 115 volunteers, plenty of horses and other animals, Journey to Bethlehem drew 14,000 cars and 68,000 people in its 10-year run.       

Mault and his wife Ruby had to share long days at their Texaco service station, on the way to 69 years of marriage. At the junction of N.C. highways 152 and 153, the station was also the junction of the nearby community. Mault pumped the gas for those who couldn’t or didn’t care to, and Ruby ran the cash register. Locals stopped in for snacks, produce and conversation good for all concerned. Often the neighbors visited just to see how the Maults were doing.

For many years, Mault had worked by himself early or late at the museum, the only times he had away from the station. Ruby passed away on March 12 of this year, yet Mault was determined to keep the station going. His own health began to fail until the long days were no longer possible. Yet, possibly one of Mault’s most wanted highlights occurred on Aug. 12 when the Cockman Family performed in the museum’s refurbished school auditorium as part of the Old School Gospel Series.

Bobby Harrison, who will now head up the museum, recounted when he and Mault looked at the completed auditorium, the largest part of the museum project so far. Harrison said, “In 2018, we looked at the finished project and Bob told me his dream was that it would someday be packed for the music that he and Jeff McCorkle were planning. After the Cockman performance, we stood in the same place while I put my arm around him and told him the dream had indeed come true. We brought in all the chairs we had and still had standing room only.”

Harrison continued, “Bob won’t get to be here, but we have just been notified that the school system’s fifth grade required visit to the museum, suspended for three years due to COVID, will resume in November. Fifteen thousand students have already visited.

In Salisbury the Magazine, Harrison said, “Bobby Mault’s legacy will be his never-ending quest to do for other’s enjoyment, to promote fellowship, teach respect for others, teach the price of freedom and to give thanks to God. Working with him for the past 17 years has furthered my belief in the power of prayer and patience, for without both, the museum or his other projects would not have been possible.”

Mault once said, “I never talked to those helping us do these things about money. I just left it up to them to help if they wanted to. But we always took time to give thanks at the end of the workdays and completed projects.” And then he would smile. It’s likely that Mault is smiling now, back together with Ruby, after his passing. In fact, some thought he made it a priority to join her in heaven to celebrate her birthday on Oct. 19.