Lee Burge, 90, lifelong learner, Atlanta native led Equifax

Lee Burge worked at one company for 50 years, rising from a job in the mailroom to chairman and chief executive officer of Atlanta-based Equifax.

Mr. Burge, who grew up in Atlanta as the only son of a steelworker and a homemaker, put himself through college while working in the mailroom of what was then Retail Credit Company. He majored in business administration at Georgia State University, which at the time was the Atlanta division of the University of Georgia.

Mr. Burge was a lifelong learner who always started his day with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and The Wall Street Journal, and he was a voracious reader of nonfiction books, said his daughter, Judy Burge of Atlanta.

“He loved biographies and books about history and geography,” she said.

Mr. Burge also felt strongly about giving back to the educational system that had served him so well, Ms. Burge said.

Her father served as chairman of the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia from 1972-73 and chairman of Atlanta’s United Negro College Fund from 1974-75. He also was on the board of trustees at Mercer University, and during the mid-1990s was part of a team that successfully resolved financial troubles at the Fernbank Museum of Natural History.

With his family, Mr. Burge always emphasized the importance of honesty, self-discipline and managing their money responsibly.

“When he was growing up, his family couldn’t afford much,” Ms. Burge said. “When he played football at Tech High, they couldn’t afford a uniform. When he bent over, his pants split. There were so many things his family couldn’t afford, like a football uniform.”

Mr. Burge, 90, died Wednesday at Piedmont Hospital. The funeral will be today at 2 p.m. at Second-Ponce de Leon Baptist Church in Atlanta.

Other survivors include: son, Roger Burge of Bartow; and four grandchildren.

–Kirsten Tagami