William Burke Hare Jr, 81, formerly of Atlanta, a greatly loved man imbued with strong faith in God, great courage and perseverance, passed away Thursday, January 18, 2024 in Chapel Hill, NC. A proud Native of Atlanta, Mr. Hare grew up attending Christ the King School then Marist High School before attending his beloved Georgia Tech where he was a member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon Fraternity. Mr. Hare served in the Georgia Air National Guard. The love of his life was his wife, Alice, to whom he was devotedly married for over 56 years. A lifelong Commercial & Industrial Real Estate Broker, Mr. Hare was the President of the William B Hare Company for over 32 years and the Burke Holding Company Inc. for 18 years. Mr. Hare was a member of and held various leadership positions at the State and National level with the Society of Industrial and Office Realtors (SIOR) and NAIOP, Commercial Real Estate Development Association. Mr. Hare served as a member of the Atlanta Regional Commission. Mr. Hare was particularly proud of his work on the Atlanta Industrial Park, Atlanta’s First urban enterprise zone for which he was awarded the Alvin B Cates Award from the Atlanta Commercial Board of REALTORS for the “most outstanding real estate transaction of the year”. Mr. Hare was an active parishioner of Holy Spirit Catholic Church, a member of the Church Men’s Club and the Atlanta Serra Club. A devoted Father and Grandfather, Mr. Hare was very proud of his Four Adult Children and Seven Grandchildren. Mr. Hare is survived by his wife Alice Chambers Hare of Chapel Hill, NC; Sister, Catherine Hare-Foltz of Alexandria Virginia; Children, William B Hare, III (Mary), Alicia C Hare, Brian Hare (Vanessa), Kevin Hare (Lauren), Grandchildren; Alexandra Hare, Catherine Hare, Ansley Rettew, Malou Hare, Luke Hare, Remy Hare and Tahnee Hare; Niece Alexis Foltz (Ken) and Nephew Andrew Chambers (Jennifer). Visitation will be in the Brides Room from 12 pm to 1pm followed by Mass of Christian Burial to be celebrated 1 pm, Saturday, January 27, 2024 at Holy Spirit Catholic Church, 4465 Northside Drive, NW Atlanta, GA 30327 with private burial to follow at Arlington Memorial Park. In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to the Georgia Tech Presidential Merit Scholarship fund in memory of William B. Hare Jr. All donation checks should be made payable to the Georgia Tech Foundation Inc., and mailed to 760 Spring Street NW, Suite 400, Atlanta, GA 30308. Please indicate on the memo line “Presidential Merit Scholarship in memory of William B. Hare Jr”. Online donations can be made by going to this link https://mygeorgiatech.gatech.edu/giving/make-a-gift. Within the online donation form, choose ‘Giving to a Special Purpose’ tile, within the ‘Special Purpose’ box type: “Presidential Merit Scholarship in memory of William B. Hare Jr.”
