Baier, Alan
BAIER, Alan Leigh
Alan Leigh Baier, formerly an attorney in Atlanta, died in his sleep on May 16, 2023 in Savannah, GA. He was 81 years old. The son of Helen and Albert Baier, he was raised in Brooklyn and Bellport, NY. He attended The Taft School in Watertown, CT, where he was a star athlete in numerous sports. He earned his BA degree in political science from Williams College, Williamstown, MA and an LLB from Duke Law School.
Leigh first practiced law in Atlanta at Hansel, Post, Brandon and Dorsey. In 1969, he formed his own practice and pursued real estate and other ventures through The Baier Corporation and Baier Realty. His design development projects spanned multi-family, resort and hunting plantation settings in Georgia, South Carolina, and Florida, including designs for The Grove Plantation and Little Botany Bay Island which he purchased near Charleston, SC with his first wife Alyse Lucas Corcoran Baier.
Throughout his career, he made long lasting friendships with clients, colleagues, and partners. Often sought out for his views on business, law and politics, he raised funds for Jimmy Carter's presidential bid, co-chaired Maynard Jackson's first race for mayor of Atlanta and himself stood for election for Georgia's U.S. Senator. In 2012, he led a legal team that won a major settlement for unpaid royalties to friend and inventor Dr. Lonnie Johnson. He was involved with numerous civic groups as chair of Restoration Atlanta, Treasurer of the UN Association Atlanta Chapter, Board of Sponsors for the Atlanta Symphony, and Honorary French Consul for Georgia.
With the help of Atlanta polo patron Adolphus Busch Orthwein, Jr. "Dolph", Leigh took up polo, became a rated player and played across the southeast including Palm Beach, where he maintained a residence, while running his business activities from an office in a polo barn he constructed on Vining's Polo Lane in Atlanta. In 2004, Leigh married Debra Jacqueline Bazemore, who shared Leigh's love of horses and the joy they could bring to young riders. They spent years watching children grow up with a love of horses and building lifelong friendships.
Few things gave Leigh more pleasure than his family and friends. In 1997 he founded and for 25 years was publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Family First News (All the News Unfit to Print), a monthly photo-newsletter that brought together his far-flung family and friends by chronicling events in their lives with pictures and playfully edited stories. As the family grew, Leigh and Debbie's travels increasingly were scheduled around the events of the family and others so he could capture another story and photo.
In addition to his wife Debbie, who devotedly cared for Leigh in his final years on Skidaway Island near Savannah, he is survived by his daughter, Alyse Prescott Baier (Johnathan Novak) of Washington, DC; Noble Pinckney Baier (Cihangir) of Baltimore, MD; Jonathan Leigh Lucas Baier of Snowmass, CO; his stepchildren, Laura Walger (Brian) of Charlotte, NC, and Marie Lynah (Jason) of Savannah, GA; four grandchildren, Spencer, Logan and Grayson Novak, and Alex Baier; two step-grandchildren, Cate and Bryce Walger; two sisters, Nancy Baier Alexanderson of Chatham, MA and Sally Baier (David Douglas) of East Hampton, NY; two nieces, Whitney Heavy (Frank) and Sara Douglas; and nephew, Scott Alexanderson (Allyson).
A Memorial Service will be held July 15, 10 AM, at Holy Innocents' Episcopal Church in Atlanta. In lieu of flowers, the family has suggested memorial contributions to the Shepherd Center Foundation of Atlanta in honor of Alan Leigh Baier.
