Brady Barnett Jr. wanted to do more than just sell homes, he wanted to help create communities. But in the days when it wasn’t easy for African-Americans to obtain mortgages, he saw his role as a real estate agent and appraiser as more of a public service than just a job.
Unable to join the mainstream organization for Realtors at the time, Barnett joined the National Association for Real Estate Brokers, a group that embraced minorities in the real estate industry, said Bobbie Kennedy Sanford.
“Brady worked in many capacities with the national organization and with our local organization, the Empire Board of Realtists,” Sanford said. “He and my late husband, Porter Sanford, got into the real estate business about the same time. Brady was very devoted to the national organization and the local chapter.”
Barnett also served the city in the early 1970s, at the behest of then-Mayor Sam Massell, on the board of aldermen.
“I appreciated his commitment to good civic management,” said Massell, president of the Buckhead Coalition. “The extensive contributions he made brought fame to government at all levels, city, county, region, and federal.”
Barnett, of Atlanta died March 25 from complications of dementia. He was 80.
A funeral is planned for 11 a.m. Tuesday at Shaw Temple A. M. E. Zion Church, Smyrna. Burial will follow at Georgia National Cemetery, Canton. Murray Brothers Funeral Home, Cascade Chapel, is in charge of arrangements.
Barnett was born in Carlton, about 24 miles northeast of Athens. After high school, he served two years in the Army during the Korean War. After the war Barnett enrolled at Clark College, where he studied business management, before starting his career in real estate in 1958 at the Robie Realty Company. After a few years working with a second real estate company, Barnett started his own enterprise, the Brady Barnett Jr. Realty Company, Inc., in 1968. He worked there until his health began to fail in the Summer of 2011, said his wife of 18 years, E. Gayle Barnett.
Joycelyn W. Bergeron said her stepfather continued his work in the real estate industry because he was, “a huge proponent for equality.”
“He was very concerned that blacks would be treated fairly at the negotiation table,” said Bergeron, who lives in Smyrna.
During his career in real estate, Barnett served as the tax arbitrator for Atlanta and Fulton County, an appraisal officer for MARTA and chairman of the Fulton County Board of Assessors, friends and family said.
“He was an icon,” Sanford said. “When I think about the struggle of African Americans in the real estate industry, one can’t help but think about Brady Barnett because he helped blaze the trail to help provide housing opportunities for all people.”
In addition to his wife and stepdaughter, Barnett is survived by two children, Ava B. Payne of Atlanta and Brady Barnett III of Macon; stepchildren Jerald D. Whitaker of East Point; Jennifer W. Graham of Atlanta; Valencia Gamble of Hiram; and seven grandchildren.
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