1892 - 1976. While many of those contributions resulted in Stephens' name or names being attached to projects (theAlys Robinson Stephens Performing Arts Center atUAB or the Elton B. Stephens Science Center at Birmingham-Southern College) most were made without any such lasting recognition. It was Elton and Jim who initiated EBSCO's $2.5 million contribution to the University of Alabama's capital campaign in 1995. Vernon, and was a 1968 graduate of Montgomery County High School. Good healthy years, being successful in whatever it is you may choose to do, after this, as long as you do it right.. They were in the house for hours taking one of Stephens sports cars for a joy ride and making food in the kitchen before waking Stephens about 8:30 a.m. Matthew Amos Burke (Jefferson County Jail). The Biography piece is collaborative, where we work together to present the facts. Stephens also founded theMetropolitan Arts Council in 1986 and was a major contributor to the Birmingham Museum of Art. TheAlabama State Council on the Arts presented Stephens with its Jonnie Dee Little Lifetime Achievement Award in 1999 in recognition of his financial contributions in support of the arts. Wadesboro Mr. Elton L. "Tebo" Stephens, 89, went home to be with the Lord on Sunday, March 3, 2019. Another decade and another career success later Elton announced that he would sell Alabama Bancorp and all its associated holdings, worth some $280 million, to Bancorp South. Burke went on to say, according to testimony, that he had bought the house two weeks before which was not true. He was a native of Montgomery County, growing up in Mt. YouTubes privacy policy is available here and YouTubes terms of service is available here. Hodges gave them consent to search the residence and thats when authorities found several guns, a Yeti cooler, a camera and cash that had been taken from Stephens home. Though the Stephens family's denying the $4 billion figure leaves major questions unanswered, the Stephenses are clearly some of the wealthiest people in the state, and they should be on any shortlist of potential heirs to Harbert's title. Elton was a truck driver and worked with Southeastern Paper in Vidalia until his recent retirement. Elton B. Stephens 1911 - 2005 2020 Inductee. "My children learned from an early age that if they wanted to eat, they had to work. 44 birth records, View Vernon where he lived until moving to Tarrytown in 1989. He is currently safe, and two suspects are in custody. He was born in Birmingham, Alabama and is a graduate of Yale University and the Harvard Business School. Tabatha Nicole Hodges (Jefferson County Jail). Elton Stephens, age 71, of Tarrytown, died Thursday, January 21, 2021, in Meadows Health in Vidalia after an brief illness. He was a native of Montgomery County, growing up in Mt. Share highlights of Elton's life. Marshals are now searching for Burke after they became aware Monday that Burke was no longer in custody, U.S. Stephens, then 75, was abducted in the morning hours of Sept. 11, 2020, from a house he was renting from fellow businessman and philanthropist George Barber while he was waiting for his new house . She also initially said that the kidnapping was all her idea, not her boyfriends, but later said that was a lie. Previous state court testimony indicated Stephens did not know his abductors. Recommend Elton's obituary to your friends. [2][6], Stephens was married to Alys Robinson. Son, Elton B. Stephens Jr., headed EBSCO Realty, responsible for eco-friendly, sustainable development approaches such asMt Laurel in Shelby County andAlys Beach on the Florida Gulf Coast. The most disturbing images were of children - a daycare center was hit by the bomb. He chose the magazine route and kept selling and hiring others to sell. Stephens became one of the first members of the United Way's Million Dollar Roundtable of top contributors and he established the Alabama Percent Club, which honors businesses that give 10 percent, 5 percent or 2 percent of pre-tax income to charity. when he died at the age of 93. Death . Controlled Demolition, Inc. (CDI) of Phoenix, Maryland, USA (acting as Explosives Subcontractor to Main Demolition Contractor, Lindamood Demolition of Irving. But the former racecar driver is also undoubtedly one of the richest residents of Alabama, having succeeded his father at the helm of Barber's Dairy. we begin to Show & Tell who they were during particular moments in their lives. She was the first wife of Alabama governor George Wallace, whom she succeeded as governor because the Alabama constitution forbade consecutive terms. Burke replied, Forever or just for today?, At one point, records state, Burke asked Stephens, How much life do you think you have left? Stephens replied, 10 years., Burke then said, I think you got 20 more, I think you do. These philosophies built a company I started in 1943 with capital of $5,000 and sales under $1,000,000, and fewer than 20 employees to annual sales of more than $1 billion on June 30, 1997; over 4,000 employees and 100 profit centers operating worldwide with adequate capital to continue growth. Elton B Stephens Elton Stephens (1911 - 2005) Jump to: Biography Memories . His wife died in 1996. Experiences, organizations, & how he spent his time. Matthew Amos Burke (Jefferson County Jail). 909 South Tennille Ave. Donalsonville, GA. ELTON STEPHENS OBITUARY . (Click on the pins for more information.). The family will greet friends prior to the service from 12:45 pm until 1:45 pm at the church. Founder and chairman of the board of EBSCO Industries, Inc., Elton Bryson Stephens was born August 4, 1911, to parents Clara Stuckey and James Nelson Stephens in Clio, Alabama. Two people have been arrested and are being held in the Jefferson County Jail without bond following the kidnapping and release of prominent retired businessman Elton B. Stephens Jr. "Elton . Funeral Home website by. Elton B. Stephens Jr. was kidnapped at around 7am on September 11 from a rental home in Birmingham, Alabama after two suspects broke into the man's house while he was asleep All rights reserved (About Us). "EBSCO and the members of the family have been integral to the growth of the museum.". After they left, he went to a friends home to call police. Elton B. Stephens Scholarship Hannah Combs; Elton B. Stephens Scholarship Aundria Kurowski; We would like to offer our sincere support to anyone coping with grief. Hodges told investigators Stephens had given the items to them willingly, but court records stated that they said they would kill him if he called anyone. The family, which inherited Stephens's wealth after his death in 2005, has never before discussed its finances with the media. Join Facebook to connect with Elton B. Stephens and others you may know. Harbert is survived by three children, six grandchildren and three great-granddaughters, "plus many loving nieces and nephews," her obituary in the Birmingham News and AL.com reads. At the time transfer from the neighboring agency, there was no documentation left to notify jail personnel that Burke had been sentenced by another court and was not to be released.. His success and wealth drove him to want to contribute to Birmingham and Alabama in ways that he felt would better the state, family and friends toldThe Birmingham News in a story about Stephens after his death. Use of and/or registration on any portion of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement, Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement, and Your Privacy Choices and Rights (each updated 1/26/2023). He enjoyed fishing, camping, woodworkingand tinkering. One of the vehicles belonged to Stephens but the detective said the suspects made him sign a $10 bill of sale for his truck. Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site. In 1924, at the age of just 13 years old, Elton was alive when J. Edgar Hoover, at the age of 29, was appointed the sixth director of the Bureau of Investigation by Calvin Coolidge (which later became the Federal Bureau of Investigation). A pair of kidnappers has been arrested after abducting a retired Alabama businessman and forcing him to pay a $250,000 ransom to gain his freedom, AL.com reports.. "I was just obsessed with bicycles and motorcycles and cars." In short, he was all about anything with wheels. Family and friends are coming together online to create a special keepsake. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Voice of Grace Ministries, 1221 Orange St., Vidalia, GA 30474. Garry Drummond, the controversial current CEO of Drummond and one of only two Drummond heirs still living as of July 2013, reportedly owned all of the capital stock in the massive coal company by then, Bloomberg reported, citing a report by business research outfit Dun & Bradstreet Corp. "If that's correct, Garry Neil is a billionaire," Bloomberg wrote. In fact, one five-member clan has been identified as wealthy enough that any one -- or all -- of them could be in possession of significantly more than $600 million each. Friends can be as close as family. USA. We share yesterday, to build meaningful connections today, and preserve for tomorrow. Then there was the need for military recreational equipment and furnishings for the officers clubs, so EBSCO eventually found itself handling carpeting and drapery, with a plant in Georgia, and managing military entertainment, with the purchase of National Billiard, Americas oldest pool table company. BIRMINGHAM Two people from Remlap are being held in the Jefferson County Jail on no bond following the kidnapping and ransom demand of Elton B. Stephens, Jr. Sadly, Williams was pronounced dead at the scene. Marshals placed a detainer on him in late November, which means once Burke was finished with state charges, he should be released into their custody. Buy newspaper front pages, posters and more. He was a native of Montgomery County, growing up in Mt. You can still show your support by sending flowers directly to the family, 2023 McKenzie Mortuary. If you purchase a product or register for an account through one of the links on our site, we may receive compensation. Later questioned by authorities as to how she came up with that amount, Hodges replied, it sounded like a big number.. Roughly two hours of the abduction were recorded on Stephens sleep apnea app. That meant I didnt have to work as much during the school year, so I could study more. Study and concentrate on his college romance with Alys Varian Robinson, whom he dated for seven years before the two married. Facebook gives people the. [1] His son James serves as the chairman of EBSCO Industries. Vernon, and was a 1968 graduate of Montgomery County High School. A small-town boy, 11 Elton quickly learned the value of money. By 1936, at 25 years old, Elton had graduated from the University of Alabama Law School and was earning more money weekly managing sales people part-time than a starting . 2023 Advance Local Media LLC. The average age of I get the chance to remember the Share yesterday to connect today & preserve tomorrow, Copyright 1999-2023 AncientFaces, Inc. All Rights Reserved, ADVERTISEMENT A memorial service will be held at a later date. If it were split equally between her three children, they would walk away with a cool $600 million each before taxes and fees. Elton has also never forgotten the importance of education, and in the mid-1990s funded the nations largest endowment for a chair of library sciences, at The University of Alabama. The Remlap pair remains behind bars on no bond. He was born on June 21, 1934 in Minster, Ohio to the late Frank & Rose (Jacobs) Meiring. Vernon where he lived until . Burke went on to say, according to testimony, that he had bought the house two weeks before which was not true. The man convicted federally of kidnapping Birmingham businessman Elton B. Stephens was released from the Jefferson County Jail because his state charges had been dismissed and jail officials had no paperwork indicating he was to remain held on a federal conviction, sheriffs officials said Tuesday. Once the money was deposited, the suspects drove Stephens back to his rental house. Select the next to any field to update. Its core industries include subscription services to libraries, bibliographic databases, manufacturing of construction and outdoors products, and real estate development. "Virtually all of our personal assets are in our ownership of EBSCO of which we are proud and to which we are fully committed," the statement said. One of the vehicles belonged to Stephens but the detective said the suspects made him sign a $10 bill of sale for his truck. In a report published in 2014 by Forbes, the Stephens family was listed as one of the richest families in the country with an estimated net worth of $4 billion.. Burke and Hodges were arrested a few days later and charged with kidnapping. View the profiles of people named Elton B. Stephens. That led them to the location where Stephens had been taken. There will be a service to celebrate his life at 2:00 pm, Thursday, March 7, 2019 at the First United Methodist Church, Wadesboro with the Rev. Hodges told investigators Stephens had given the items to them willingly, but court records stated that they said they would kill him if he called anyone. Elton C Stephens of Montgomery, Montgomery County, Alabama was born on September 7, 1926. Elton B. Stephens is among four artists who will be inducted into the Alabama Music Hall of Fame during its induction banquet Saturday at the Marriott Shoals Conference Center in Florence. For the Stephens family, it all traces back to patriarch, the late Elton B. Stephens, and a $5,000 investment he made to start a business in 1944 along with his wife, Alys Robinson Stephens. According to law enforcement, Burke and Tabatha Nicole Hodges, 22, broke into a house Stephens was staying at in Jefferson County as he slept on September . That first year, I saved $500 and thats like several thousand today, he remembers. Procha Patrice Williams was tragically struck and killed by a vehicle on Jan. 8 in Birmingham. YouTubes privacy policy is available here and YouTubes terms of service is available here. Did Elton finish grade school, get a GED, go to high school, get a college degree or masters? Evans-Skipper Funeral Home - Donalsonville. The heiress of Birmingham-based Harbert Corporation magnate John Murdoch Harbert III, her husband of 43 years who died in 1995, Harbert left her brood a massive inheritance. Cookie Settings/Do Not Sell My Personal Information. Updated: November 4, 2011 . Birmingham and Mountain Brook police, as well as the FBI and the U.S. Secret Service, responded. 2023 Advance Local Media LLC. Your email will not be used for any other purpose. Mr. Elton Stephens, age 71, of Tarrytown, died Thursday, January 21, 2021, in Meadows Health in Vidalia after an briefillness. Sentencing is set for Nov. 2 before U.S. District Judge Abdul Kallon. U.S., Newspapers.com Obituary Index, 1800s-current. Elton "Sonny" Meiring, age 88 of Celina, Ohio, formerly of Minster, died at 7:29 PM on Tuesday, February 7, 2023 at Joint Township District Memorial Hospital, St. Marys, Ohio. Where we share as we remember & make discoveries and connect with others to help answer questions. In 1937, by the time he was 26 years old, on May 28th, the San Francisco Golden Gate Bridge opened to cars. It was Eltons frustration with borrowing money early in his business career that led him in 1981, at the age of 70, to begin a second career as a financier. Burke was sentenced to 17 years, and Hodges to 12 years, in the federal penitentiary system. Forbes may have singled out Birmingham's Stephens family as the state's richest clan, Alys Robinson Stephens Performing Arts Center, Brooke retired as CEO of EBSCO Industries, Buy newspaper front pages, posters and more. He has connections to . Baker McCullough Funeral Home Danyse G. Edel can stop at any time. Biography ID: 59996224 . [3], Stephens founded Military Service Co. in 1944, with US$5,000. Keely on Tuesday, however, said the U.S. We have no idea how Forbes could have so wrongly made this estimate. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Advance Local. [2], With his son James, Stephens donated $2.5 million to the University of Alabama at Birmingham. For years he has been referred to as a billionaire in news articles and other forums, but any definitive proof of the extent of high his net worth remains elusive. Founder and chairman of the board of EBSCO Industries, Inc., Elton Bryson Stephens was born August 4, 1911, to parents Clara Stuckey and James Nelson Stephens in Clio, Alabama. [2] For charitable contributions to the Birmingham Museum of Art, the Stephens Family Gallery is named in his family's honor. A former employee of the Justice Department, Hoover accepted his new position on the proviso that the bureau was to be completely divorced from politics and that the director report only to the attorney general. . Matthew Amos Burke, 35, was freed from the Jefferson County Jail on Dec. 10, more than a month after pleading guilty to federal charges in the abduction of Birmingham businessman Elton B. Stephens . Elton Stephens, Sr.'s wife, Alys Robinson Stephens, passed away in 1996, leaving the couple's four children, Elton B. Stephens, Jr., James T. Stephens, Jane S. Comer and Dell S. Brooke, as the . "I can't say enough about what the Stephens family has done and continue to do for this community," she said. They were in the house for hours taking one of Stephens sports cars for a joy ride and making food in the kitchen before waking Stephens about 8:30 a.m. He served four years in the U.S. Army and returned to Mt. Link to family and friends whose lives he impacted. [5] His wife died in 1996. Stephens, Jr. most recently served as . Elton B Stephens of Birmingham, Jefferson County, Alabama was born on August 4, 1911, and died at age 93 years old on February 5, 2005. - After four decades at Elton B. Stephens Co. (EBSCO), President and CEO F. Dixon Brooke Jr. announced his plans to retire at the end of this current fiscal year, June 30, 2014. Sheriffs Sgt. When 2 or more people share their unique perspectives, Summers were spent working for Butterick, selling subscriptions to that once-famous dress pattern makers magazine, and in 1930 Elton and five friends hitchhiked north to Michigan to sell subscriptions door-to-door all day. to the family or plant a tree Surviving is a son, Charles Garry (Barbara) Stephens of Fuquay Varina, NC; grandson, James Edward (Madison Pace fianc) Stephens of Fuquay Varina, NC; a nephew, Albert M. (Carol) Kennedy of Schwenksville, PA; and a niece, Cecilia Kennedy (Donald) Mayall of Pennsburg, PA. He is approximately 5'7 tall, 170 lbs. EBSCO quickly expanded; Elton saw the need for magazine racks at Fort McClellan and other places and formed Vulcan Industries to make them. According to his will -- dated April 12, 1993, and filed with the probate court shortly after his death on Feb. 5, 2005 -- the Stephens patriarch named his four children as his heirs. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Advance Local. "When I was four, I had pneumonia, and I remember my father often standing over my crib and entertaining . If you purchase a product or register for an account through one of the links on our site, we may receive compensation. Elton Stephens (1892 - 1976) Add photo. 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