Mercer Trustee James T. McAfee Jr. Dies in Atlanta

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James T. McAfee, Jr., 65, of Big Canoe, Ga., and Seabrook Island, S.C., died Wednesday, Nov. 3, 2004, at Piedmont Hospital in Atlanta.

Memorial services will be held Friday, Nov. 5, 11 a.m., at Second-Ponce de Leon Baptist Church, Atlanta, with Dr. David Sapp, Dr. R. Kirby Godsey, Dr. Hyran E. Barefoot, Dr. John R. Claypool and Dr. Alan Culpepper officiating. Special music will be performed by the Mercer University Singers. 

Honorary pallbearers will be the Mercer University Board of Trustees and faculty of the James and Carolyn McAfee School of Theology of Mercer University. Burial will be private.

Visitation will be held Thursday, Nov. 4, 6-9 p.m., at H.M. Patterson Funeral Home, 173 Allen Road, Sandy Springs, and one hour before the service on Friday at the church.

Mr. McAfee was born June 17, 1939, in Chattanooga, Tenn., the son of James T. and Frances Hilliard McAfee.

He was chairman of Hallmark Systems, Inc., an Atlanta-based health care company.

Mr. McAfee was chairman of the board and president of Hallmark Healthcare Corporation from 1987 through 1994. Mr. McAfee led the company through an extensive restructuring and refocusing of operations culminating in the merger of Hallmark Healthcare Corporation with Community Health Systems.

Prior to his association with Hallmark, Mr. McAfee was executive vice president and responsible for Charter Medical Corporation’s operations. He also served as a member of the Board of Directors for Charter Medical Corporation. During his leadership, Charter developed, opened and managed more than 88 hospitals in the United States and Europe. Mr. McAfee had also previously served as senior vice president of Hospital Affiliates International and chief executive officer of two community-owned hospitals.

Mr. McAfee was a member of the American Hospital Association and a former member of the AHA Board of Trustees. He was also a member of the Board of Governors of the Federation of American Health Systems. He was a graduate of Union University in Jackson, Tenn., and Georgia State University. Union awarded him an honorary L.L.D. degree in 1990, and Mercer University awarded him an honorary L.L.D. degree in 1999.

A member and past chairman of Mercer’s Board of Trustees, Mr. McAfee had served his alma mater as a trustee and Union’s McAfee School of Business was named in his honor in 1994. Mercer’s McAfee School of Theology was named in honor of him and his wife, Carolyn, in 1997.

Mr. McAfee was a Trustee at Belmont University, Nashville, Tenn., and O’More College of Design, Franklin, Tenn.

Mr. McAfee was chairman of the board of Baptists Today.

Survivors include: his wife of 42 years, Carolyn Townsend McAfee of Big Canoe, Ga., and Seabrook Island, S.C.; son, J. Thomas McAfee III, and daughter-in-law, Julie Crangle McAfee, Big Canoe, Ga.

Memorials can be made to the James and Carolyn McAfee School of Theology of Mercer University, 3001 Mercer University Drive, Atlanta, Ga. 30341.

Rick Cameron
Rick Cameron is senior associate athletic director for communications, overseeing athletic media relations, including management of mercerbears.com, the official website of Mercer Athletics, while also maintaining his broadcasting responsibilities as Voice of the Bears.