Sam Massell Weds in Private Ceremony

ATLANTA, GA — Atlanta's oldest living mayor, and arguably Buckhead's leading official, got married in a private ceremony Wednesday afternoon.

Sam Massell, president of the Buckhead Coalition, married Sandra Gordy in a small ceremony that was kept secret until the last moment, according to the AJC.

Rev. Sam Candler, dean of the Cathedral of St. Philip, and The Temple Senior Rabbi Peter S. Berg, jointly officiated.

Massell is 89, while Gordy is 70.

Not even Gordy's family or Massell's children knew about the couple's plans. “I was afraid they’d talk her out of it,” Massell said.

Massell and his new bride have been friends and business associates for more than 30 years.

Massell's wife of more than 60 years, , died last year after suffering from Alzheimer’s. Gordy has also been married once before.

Massell was Atlanta's 53rd mayor from 1970-74, succeeding Ivan Allen Jr. and then losing in the city's first election under then-new voting rights laws to Maynard Jackson. After his mayoral term, Massell opened a successful travel agency, and then became founding president of the Buckhead Coalition, a position which he still holds today.

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