Twelve members of the Brumley family, which has had close ties to the University for many years, died when their plane crashed into a mountain in Kenya July 19. Two South African pilots were also killed.
"The Duke community is deeply saddened by this terrible news from Kenya," President Nan Keohane said in a statement. "Five of the 14 persons on board the plane were graduates of the University; they had all maintained close ties and contributed to Duke in many ways. Their lives were filled with professional achievement, commitment to family, service to society and a spirit of generosity. Our hearts go out to the family and friends of all those who were lost in this unspeakable tragedy."
Sixty-eight-year-old Dr. George Brumley Jr., Trinity '56, was a former co-director of the Division of Perinatal Medicine at the Duke University Medical Center. He began a long affiliation with the University as an undergraduate before proceeding onto the School of Medicine and then joining the Duke faculty in 1966. Dr. Brumley founded the medical school's Division of Neonatology in 1972 and served at Duke until 1981, when he became chair of the Department of Pediatrics at Emory University. He was the winner of a Distinguished Alumnus Award from the Duke medical school.
His wife, 67-year-old Jean Stanback Brumley, Women's College '58, was a fellow Duke alumna and originally from Salisbury, N.C. She worked as an elementary school teacher in Durham before she and her husband moved to Atlanta, and was active in a number of charitable and civic organizations.
Three of the Brumleys' children died on board: George, 42, Elizabeth, 41, and Lois, 39.
George III, MBA '86, lived in Chapel Hill. He was chairman and CEO of Oak Value Capital Management, a Durham investment management firm he began with a partner in 1990. He was involved as a board member in several North Carolina environmental organizations and at Durham Academy.
Elizabeth Brumley Love, 41, Trinity '84, earned a Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Emory University and was a resident of London. Her interests included mental health issues and organizations serving children.
Love's husband William was also a member of the class of 1984 and went on to receive his MBA from Duke in 1992. He had been director of sales and marketing for the European branch of his family's company, Printpack, which produces packaging for the consumer products industry.
Other members of the Brumley family who perished in the crash were the Loves' 11-year-old daughter Sarah; George III's wife Julia Preston Brumley, 42; their children George IV, 14, and Jordan, 12, both of whom attended Durham Academy; Lois's husband Richard Morrell, 43, and their 11-year-old child Alexander Morrell.
Services for the families were held in Atlanta and Chapel Hill.
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