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Baptist layman, philanthropist James McAfee dead at 65

NewsABPnews  |  November 2, 2004

ATLANTA (ABP) — James T. McAfee Jr., who along with his wife, Carolyn, generously supported Baptist educational causes, died in Atlanta Nov. 3, one week after heart surgery.

In 1997, Mercer University named its new seminary the James and Carolyn McAfee School of Theology following the couple's $10 million gift. Dean Alan Culpepper said Nov. 3 the theology school “has lost a great friend.”

McAfee, 65, built a successful career in health-care management and most recently served as chairman, president and chief executive officer of Hallmark Systems Inc. The McAfees moved from Atlanta recently to their homes in Big Canoe, Ga., and Seabrook Island, S.C.

McAfee held terms as a trustee at Mercer and two other Baptist-related schools, Union University in his hometown of Jackson, Tenn., and Belmont University in Nashville, Tenn. The McAfees met while students at Union University. They had one son, Tom, who serves as president of the McAfee Foundation.

McAfee served for the past six years as chairman of the board of the autonomous, national newsjournal Baptists Today, headquartered in Macon, Ga. He was a member of Atlanta's Second-Ponce de Leon Baptist Church.

Funeral services will be held at Second-Ponce de Leon Baptist Church in Atlanta Nov. 5 at 11 a.m. All classes at the McAfee School of Theology will be canceled for the day in McAfee's honor. A private burial will be held in Big Canoe, Ga.

-30-

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