Jam Piper Jam
Truth Seeker
Atlanta Philanthropist and Family Die in Kenyan Plane Crash
By JEFFREY GETTLEMAN
TLANTA, July 21 ? George Brumley Jr. pioneered research that helped save thousands of tiny babies and pumped millions of dollars into this city, looking out for poor children, the homeless and the dying.
Yet, in the end, most people here had never even heard his name.
That is, until this weekend.
In an accident 8,000 miles away, a plane carrying Dr. Brumley, one of Atlanta's most respected philanthropists, and 11 of his relatives slammed into Mount Kenya. The crash killed members of three generations and in an instant finished 12 entries on the Brumley family tree.
Since then, Atlantans have learned how much the Brumleys did for their city. And how quietly.
Over the years, Dr. Brumley, a pediatrician, built a network of charities that touched nearly every neighborhood and social stratum. But he avoided publicity like a disease. His main charity was not named after himself but after a little Dutch city, Zeist, where he once lived.
"George had no ego," said Thomas Lawley, dean of the Emory University School of Medicine. "He was always focused on results, not credit."
Well bred and well educated, Dr. Brumley, 68, was known as a gentleman doctor. Each day he would show up at the laboratory in a pressed shirt and tie. He was even polite to the rats. "You could tell by the way he handled the lab animals how much he cared for life, any life," said Lou Ann Brown, a pediatrics professor at Emory University.
The crash was the top story in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution today. The Brumleys may not have created the vast philanthropic empires of say, Robert Woodruff, the former president of Coca-Cola, or Ted Turner, the billionaire founder of CNN. Maybe every city has people like them. But years of understated giving earned the Brumleys a special place in Atlanta.
Dr. Brumley made a name researching the weak lungs of premature babies. His studies, colleagues said, led to a new generation of drugs that have saved thousands of infants born weighing less than a pound.
His main charity, the Zeist Foundation, sponsors children's medical clinics, hospices, shelters, fathering classes, juvenile justice programs and events at which musicians would perform with inner city kids.
His wife, Jean Stanback Brumley, 67, was on the board of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. She had reservations about going on safari.
"She was no nature girl," said a friend, Dr. Veda Johnson.
In their Christmas letter announcing the family vacation to East Africa, the Brumleys joked: "It should be a great trip provided certain family members can adapt to the wild; stay tuned for next year's report on Jean and the bucket shower."
Dr. Brumley was smitten with Africa. Two years ago, at 66, he had scaled Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest peak on the continent.
On Saturday, 12 members of the Brumley clan took off from Nairobi, headed to Samburu, a game reserve known for its stunning stocks of giraffe, zebra and gazelle.
The chartered plane, a twin-engine Fairchild turboprop flown by two South African pilots, took off around 4:15 p.m. The time is significant. Kenyan officials say it is dangerous to fly too close to Mount Kenya in the late afternoon because storms begin to lash the craggy peaks about then.
Friends of the Brumleys said the plane crashed as the pilots were pulling a tight circle around the mountain to give the family a closer view.
Chris Kuto, director of Kenya's Civil Aviation Authority, said: "This time of year the weather gets bad in the afternoon. Clouds, fog, rain. It's dangerous."
The Kenyan aviation authority requires pilots to get permits if they plan to circle Mount Kenya, which reaches to 17,058 feet. In this case, Mr. Kuto said, no permit was issued.
In Atlanta, the news has been a lot to absorb. George. Jean. Three of their five children: George III, 42; Lois, 39; Beth, 41. George III's wife, Julia, 42, and their two children, George IV, 14, and Jordan, 12. Lois's husband, Richard Morell, 43, and their son, Alex, 11. And Beth's husband, William Love, 41, and their daughter, Sarah, 12. Brumleys, 68 to 11, were on that plane.
Allison Vulgamore, president of the orchestra, said the entire family was known for giving. "When you worked with Jean and George, you always knew of their family legacies, but they did not want to focus on themselves."
Most of Dr. Brumley's family stayed near Atlanta , including Mr. Morell who quit his job as a lawyer to become a psychologist at an inner-city clinic Dr. Brumley set up.
Children were the Brumleys' key interest. Dr. Brumley, who received his bachelor's and medical degrees from Duke University, moved from Durham, N.C., to Atlanta in 1981 to become the chairman of Emory's pediatric department. By the time he retired 14 years later, the size of the department had tripled.
"We must not fail the children," he once wrote to a local paper.
By JEFFREY GETTLEMAN
TLANTA, July 21 ? George Brumley Jr. pioneered research that helped save thousands of tiny babies and pumped millions of dollars into this city, looking out for poor children, the homeless and the dying.
Yet, in the end, most people here had never even heard his name.
That is, until this weekend.
In an accident 8,000 miles away, a plane carrying Dr. Brumley, one of Atlanta's most respected philanthropists, and 11 of his relatives slammed into Mount Kenya. The crash killed members of three generations and in an instant finished 12 entries on the Brumley family tree.
Since then, Atlantans have learned how much the Brumleys did for their city. And how quietly.
Over the years, Dr. Brumley, a pediatrician, built a network of charities that touched nearly every neighborhood and social stratum. But he avoided publicity like a disease. His main charity was not named after himself but after a little Dutch city, Zeist, where he once lived.
"George had no ego," said Thomas Lawley, dean of the Emory University School of Medicine. "He was always focused on results, not credit."
Well bred and well educated, Dr. Brumley, 68, was known as a gentleman doctor. Each day he would show up at the laboratory in a pressed shirt and tie. He was even polite to the rats. "You could tell by the way he handled the lab animals how much he cared for life, any life," said Lou Ann Brown, a pediatrics professor at Emory University.
The crash was the top story in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution today. The Brumleys may not have created the vast philanthropic empires of say, Robert Woodruff, the former president of Coca-Cola, or Ted Turner, the billionaire founder of CNN. Maybe every city has people like them. But years of understated giving earned the Brumleys a special place in Atlanta.
Dr. Brumley made a name researching the weak lungs of premature babies. His studies, colleagues said, led to a new generation of drugs that have saved thousands of infants born weighing less than a pound.
His main charity, the Zeist Foundation, sponsors children's medical clinics, hospices, shelters, fathering classes, juvenile justice programs and events at which musicians would perform with inner city kids.
His wife, Jean Stanback Brumley, 67, was on the board of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. She had reservations about going on safari.
"She was no nature girl," said a friend, Dr. Veda Johnson.
In their Christmas letter announcing the family vacation to East Africa, the Brumleys joked: "It should be a great trip provided certain family members can adapt to the wild; stay tuned for next year's report on Jean and the bucket shower."
Dr. Brumley was smitten with Africa. Two years ago, at 66, he had scaled Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest peak on the continent.
On Saturday, 12 members of the Brumley clan took off from Nairobi, headed to Samburu, a game reserve known for its stunning stocks of giraffe, zebra and gazelle.
The chartered plane, a twin-engine Fairchild turboprop flown by two South African pilots, took off around 4:15 p.m. The time is significant. Kenyan officials say it is dangerous to fly too close to Mount Kenya in the late afternoon because storms begin to lash the craggy peaks about then.
Friends of the Brumleys said the plane crashed as the pilots were pulling a tight circle around the mountain to give the family a closer view.
Chris Kuto, director of Kenya's Civil Aviation Authority, said: "This time of year the weather gets bad in the afternoon. Clouds, fog, rain. It's dangerous."
The Kenyan aviation authority requires pilots to get permits if they plan to circle Mount Kenya, which reaches to 17,058 feet. In this case, Mr. Kuto said, no permit was issued.
In Atlanta, the news has been a lot to absorb. George. Jean. Three of their five children: George III, 42; Lois, 39; Beth, 41. George III's wife, Julia, 42, and their two children, George IV, 14, and Jordan, 12. Lois's husband, Richard Morell, 43, and their son, Alex, 11. And Beth's husband, William Love, 41, and their daughter, Sarah, 12. Brumleys, 68 to 11, were on that plane.
Allison Vulgamore, president of the orchestra, said the entire family was known for giving. "When you worked with Jean and George, you always knew of their family legacies, but they did not want to focus on themselves."
Most of Dr. Brumley's family stayed near Atlanta , including Mr. Morell who quit his job as a lawyer to become a psychologist at an inner-city clinic Dr. Brumley set up.
Children were the Brumleys' key interest. Dr. Brumley, who received his bachelor's and medical degrees from Duke University, moved from Durham, N.C., to Atlanta in 1981 to become the chairman of Emory's pediatric department. By the time he retired 14 years later, the size of the department had tripled.
"We must not fail the children," he once wrote to a local paper.