Garry Neil Drummond Sr. (June 8, 1938 – July 13, 2016) was an American

heir Inheritance is the practice of receiving private property, titles, debts, entitlements, privileges, rights, and obligations upon the death of an individual. The rules of inheritance differ among societies and have changed over time. Officiall ...

, business executive, and philanthropist from Alabama. He served as the chairman and chief executive officer of the Drummond Company, a private coal company active in Alabama and

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

Early life

Garry Neil Drummond Sr. was born in 1938 at

Sipsey, Alabama Sipsey is a town in Walker County, Alabama, United States. At the 2010 census the population was 437, down from 552. Geography Sipsey is located at (33.823108, -87.086127). According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , all ...

.Garry N. Drummond Sr.
''Bloomberg Business'' His father,

Heman Edward Drummond Heman Edward Drummond (August 8, 1905– April 5, 1956) was an American businessman from Alabama. He was the founder of the Drummond Company, a coal-mining company. Early life Heman Edward Drummond was born on August 8, 1905. His grandfather was a ...

, was the founder of the Drummond Company, a coal company, in 1935.Anthony Effinger, Matthew Bristow
Alabama Billionaire Battles Murder Suits as Prices Ebb
''Bloomberg Business'', July 16, 2013Connor Sheets

''The Birmingham News'', March 23, 2015 Drummond started working in his father's coal mines at the age of fifteen. He graduated from the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, with a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering.Forbes: Garry Drummond
/ref>

Business career

Drummond Company

In 1961, Drummond joined the family business, the Drummond Company, a coal company active in Alabama.Drummond Company: Leadership Team
/ref> He later served as its chief operating officer. He served as its chairman and chief executive officer since 1973. The company is active in coal-mining in Alabama and

. In 1979-1980, with his brother, Elbert Allen "Larry" Drummond, and another executive, Clyde Black; he was indicted for bribing three Alabama legislators by supplying them with prostitutes.Daniel Fisher
Alabama Coal Baron Uncovers Evidence Of Witness Payments In Attack On Lawyer
''Forbes'', June 6, 2014 The three-month trial was dismissed by Judge Frank McFadden, and the record was sealed. In the 1980s, Drummond began looking for coal in

, even though the country was at war. He established their first coal mine in 1995. Shortly after, the FARC bombed the railway track which carried coal from the Drummond mine to their port off the Caribbean Sea. In 2013, Drummond planned to establish a new coal mine off the bank of the Black Warrior River near Birmingham.

Corporate directorships

Drummond served on the board of directors of

SouthTrust SouthTrust Corporation was a banking company headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama. In 2004, SouthTrust reached an agreement to merge with Wachovia in a stock-for-stock deal. At the time of the merger with Wachovia was completed, SouthTrust had $5 ...

from 2001 to its merger with Wachovia in 2004. He also served as the Director of the Alabama Coal Association. Additionally, he was appointed to the National Coal Council by United States Secretary of Energy

Donald P. Hodel Donald Paul Hodel (born May 23, 1935) is an American former politician who served as United States Secretary of Energy and Secretary of the Interior. He was known during his tenure as Secretary of the Interior for his controversial "Hodel Policy, ...

in 1984, under the presidency of

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...

. Later, he served as the Chairman of the Governor's Commission on Affordable Health Care. Drummond served on the Boards of Directors of the National Mining Association as well as the Economic Development Partnership for Alabama. He was a member of the

Alabama Academy of Honor The Alabama Academy of Honor recognizes one hundred living Alabamians for outstanding accomplishments and services to Alabama and the United States. . By act of the Alabama Legislature, only one hundred living people may be members at any time. Up t ...

since 1989, the Alabama Engineering Hall of Fame since 1997, and the Alabama Business Hall of Fame since 2003. Drummond taught Engineering part-time at

Walker College Bevill State Community College is a public community college in Sumiton, Alabama. It enrolls 3,986 students and has been accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools since 1994. , the college had ...

.Ronnie Blair
The Drummonds: close-knit, self-made men
''Lakeland Ledger'', May 12, 1985

Invention

Alongside Eugene Honeycutt and Harold Gene Anderson, Drummond invented a specific method for "open pit bench mining", which has been patented since February 5, 2013.Justia Patents: Patents by Inventor Garry N. Drummond
/ref>

Philanthropy and political activity

Drummond served on the Executive Board of Directors of the Boy Scouts of America. He also served on the Board of Trustees of his alma mater, the University of Alabama. Drummond made donations to Republican politicians such as

Richard Shelby Richard Craig Shelby (born May 6, 1934) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Alabama. First elected to the U.S. Senate in 1986 as a Democrat who later switched to the Republican Party in 1994, h ...

Terry Everett Robert Terry Everett (born February 15, 1937) is an American politician and a Republican former member of the United States House of Representatives from Alabama's 2nd congressional district. He served from 1993 to his retirement in 2009. Everet ...

, Robert Aderholt, Butch Otter, Mike Rogers, Jo Bonner, as well as to the 2004 re-election of President George W. Bush.JASPER, Alabama (AL) Political Contributions by Individuals
City-Data He also donated to Coalpac, a political action committee for the National Mining Association. He also donated US$50,000 to Bob Riley's 2002 gubernatorial campaign.Alabama Corrections land sale draws fire again in Hale County
, ''The Decatur Daily News'', April 17, 2007

Personal life and death

Drummond was married and had five children. As of 2015, '' Forbes'' listed Drummond as the wealthiest individual in Alabama, with an estimated wealth of US$980 million. He died in Birmingham on July 13, 2016, at the age of 78 due to complications from cancer.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Drummond, Garry N. 1938 births 2016 deaths People from Walker County, Alabama University of Alabama alumni Businesspeople from Alabama American chief executives American corporate directors American businesspeople in the coal industry 21st-century American inventors National Executive Board of the Boy Scouts of America members Philanthropists from Alabama Drummond family (Alabama) Alabama Republicans