Christian David LeBey Jr.

Christian David LeBey, Jr. died in Atlanta, the city of his birth, a city he loved and knew so well. He was 84 years old. He liked to say he was born at home plate because the old Piedmont Hospital was located at the site of the Braves stadium. “David” as he liked to be called had two careers and he enjoyed them both equally. Upon graduating from Princeton, he went to work as a reporter for the Atlanta Journal where he enjoyed the camaraderie of Ralph McGill, Jack Spalding, Celestine Sibley and Furman Bisher. David was both a sports editor and a feature writer for the Atlanta Magazine. Later he became a major participant in Atlanta’s growing commercial real estate market working as a mortgage banker with his father’s firm, C. D. LeBey & Co. and as an MAI appraiser and finally, as an investor in commercial real estate. David died Saturday morning at UniHealth Post Acute Care Rehab Facility-Brookhaven after a battle with congestive heart failure and septicemia. Though he overcame sepsis, he couldn’t overcome the weakness of congestive heart failure in his struggle to rehabilitate and walk again. He was the son of Christian David LeBey and Elizabeth Reid LeBey. His father was a graduate of Georgia Tech and was an All American football player once in 1916 and again 1922 on his return to school after serving in France and Germany during WWI. David, like his father before him, loved this country and loved being an American. They were both particularly proud to have the same name as their ancestor, the first Christian David LeBey, a soldier who served in Lafayette’s army in Savannah during the American Revolution. He, along with two brothers and two cousins, five members of the same LeBey family, helped the colonists in their successful struggle for independence. David graduated from North Fulton High School in 1944, then went to McCallie in Tennessee. From there he went to Princeton University, Class of 1948. His college education was briefly interrupted by military service in the European theater as a Second Lieutenant in the U. S. Army during WWII. His mission required him to oversee the transport of prisoners of war for trial in Nuremberg. He also assisted Holocaust survivors in their relocation. David thoroughly enjoyed being a “Buckhead Boy” who never missed the annual Christmas Party. Despite that one evening of revelry, he was a quiet and dignified man, pure, serene and noble. He treated everyone with kindness and respect. Throughout his adulthood, he was a true southern gentleman, deeply loved, cared for and appreciated by his wife Barbara who will miss him every day for the rest of her life. David was a life member of the Capital City Club as was his father before him. He was formerly a member of the Commerce Club, a past president of the Atlanta Board of Realtors, the Mortgage Bankers’ Association, Atlanta Kiwanis and Lieutenant General of Kiwanis International. As a member of the Appraisal Institute, David served on the national ethics committee and worked for many years as an appraiser of commercial property. David is survived by his devoted and loving wife, Barbara LeBey, a daughter, Pamela LeBey Wilson, her husband, Randall M. Wilson, and their two sons, Nicholas M. Wilson and David LeBey Wilson. David is also survived by his son, Daniel M. LeBey, who also graduated from Princeton, and his two daughters, Kathryn Thurman LeBey and Isabelle Daniel LeBey. A memorial service will be held at H.M. Patterson and Son Oglethorpe Hill Chapel on Saturday, April 23, 2011 at 2 p.m. with a visitation one hour prior to the service. There will be a reception at the Capital City Club Brookhaven at 4 p.m. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to one of David’s preferred charities, The Atlanta Union Mission.