J. Michael Gearon

Michael Gearon, the real estate visionary who created the first suburban office park in the United States, passed away peacefully at home in Atlanta on Monday, November 22, 2021, surrounded by his children and grandchildren. In addition to real estate, Michael was also highly regarded for his active involvement with the Atlanta Hawks for almost four decades. Beginning in 1977 he held several senior management positions including chairman of the board and eventually became part owner from 2004 until 2015.

As an ambitious and astute young man, he started his own business, Gearon & Company, in the early 1960s, and purchased 150 acres of wooded property off North Druid Hills Road to build Executive Park which opened in 1965. He is credited with creating a new development trend – office buildings in a park-like setting. In fact, during this time, Merriam-Webster included the new term “Executive Park” in its dictionary. Concurrently, Michael bought 440 acres of farmland on Peachtree Dunwoody and Ashford Dunwoody to create Perimeter Center, one of the largest suburban office communities in the United States.

Michael sold his business in 1971 to spend more time with his children – Tierney, Michael, Jr., and Tim. Fully retired at 38, he traveled more extensively with his family on adventurous trips to the South Pacific (Micronesia, Tonga, Tahiti, Truk Atoll, and the Marquesas), New Zealand, Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa, and the Seychelle Islands. Through these trips and their time together, he instilled in them the value of dreaming big.

During this newfound family time, he began taking the children to Hawks games where he could unwind. Beginning in 1968, even during the team’s toughest years, he was a steadfast, optimistic season ticket holder and was active in the Hawks Booster Club. It was there that he met another unconventional businessman, Ted Turner, and they became lifelong friends. In fact, in 1977 when rumors were afoot that Atlanta could lose the team, Ted Turner bought the franchise and asked Michael to take the reins just as Ted was taking off to sail Courageous to victory in the America’s Cup.

This tenure was meant to be a short-term, unpaid position, but Michael’s ongoing involvement went on for 38 years. He served as General Manager from 1977-79; President from 1979-1986; Chairman of the Board from 1986-2003 and part owner from 2004-2015. In addition, he served as the Board of Governors representative for the team from 1977-1991. Heralded in a magazine article as “The Hawks’ Secret Weapon” during Coach Hubie Brown’s and Mike Fratello’s eras, Michael was integrally involved in evaluating talent, negotiating deals and contracts, and bringing long-range stability to the team.

John Michael Gearon was born May 6, 1934 to Cornelius “Neil” Philip Gearon and Lena Elizabeth Asbury Gearon in Englewood, New Jersey. Following in his father’s footsteps, Michael attended the Englewood School for Boys, before transferring to the boarding school Tabor Academy (Marion, Massachusetts). He graduated in 1953. Right after high school, Michael worked as a page for NBC-TV at Rockefeller Center in New York. He worked on the first performances of “The Tonight Show” hosted by comedian Steve Allen.

Michael was just 20 when his father died, and his mother moved him and his younger sister to Atlanta to be closer to his grandparents and their farm in McDonough. He often said his happiest summers were spent there, and he credited his maternal grandmother, Marcella Kendrick Asbury, as his strongest supporter and advocate. While in Atlanta, he enrolled at Emory University to study business, but eventually transferred to Georgia State University and worked for Adams-Cates, Atlanta’s pre-eminent commercial real estate company, before starting his own company.

Following his retirement in the early 1970s, Michael developed a healthy lifestyle, riding his 10-speed bike from Brookwood Hills to the Northside High School track and the YMCA where he swam. He also became a health-conscious eater, particularly given to yogurt and wheat germ. He had a ferocious curiosity, constantly researching and reading to learn more about almost anything that crossed his radar. Above all, he remained a quick-witted, joyful influence on all those close to him.

Michael served on the board of the Paideia School, including as chair and on the board of Turner Broadcasting. He was named DeKalb County Man of the Year and was recognized by Gov. Carl Sanders in 1963. Michael was a member of the Capital City Club.

Michael’s greatest service to those around him was his huge interest in and capacity for kindly stepping in to support others, devoting significant amounts of time to ease their issues. He would spend hours researching solutions for family and friends and even friends of friends. He was big hearted, gracious, and giving of his time and his creative problem-solving abilities.

Despite his successes, commendations and friends in high places, Michael remained humble and full of gratitude. He often said his most enduring influence was the summer he spent working at the Ladder Ranch in New Mexico. As a 17-year-old East Coast boy thrown in with hard-working cowboys on the 360,000-acre ranch, he got a glimpse of true happiness and fulfillment. “Those cowboys were the happiest guys I had ever seen,” he would say. “They taught me that contentment was the highest among people who had the least. I never saw people happier than cowboys and I never saw people who had less.” Ironically, the ranch where his father had also worked as a boy, was purchased by Ted Turner in 1994.

Michael is survived by his three devoted children: daughter Tierney Patricia Josanna Gearon of Malibu, California; John Michael Gearon Jr. (Lauren), of Atlanta; and Timothy Cornelius Rex Gearon (Sarah) of Hawaii. All his beloved grandchildren will miss him: Emilee Elizabeth Barnouin, Michael Vincent Barnouin, James Walker Blake, Grace Gearon Junger, John Michael Gearon III, Elizabeth Lindberg Gearon, and William Bailey Gearon. Michael’s sister, Elizabeth Gearon Walser of Baltimore, and her children – Kathryn Elizabeth East, Lawrence Macmillian Gleason, Jr., and Cornelia P. Watters – also survive him, as does Mary Kendrick “Ken” Gearon, of Atlanta, his longtime companion. His first wife and the mother of his children, Patricia Smith Gearon, of Malibu, also survives him.

During the last four days of Michael’s life, his children and grandchildren sang some of his favorite songs to him. One of them, “Everybody’s Talkin’” from Harry Nilsson, perfectly captures his enduring optimistic outlook right up to the end:

“I am going where the sun keeps shining,

through the pouring rain.”

Michael was buried in a private service with family and close friends at Westview Cemetery on Saturday, November 27. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests a donation to CURE Childhood Cancer, 200 Ashford Center North, Suite 250, Atlanta, GA 30338 or www.curechildhoodcancer.org.