Columbus native and influential University System of Georgia regent Don Leebern Jr. dies

Donald Leebern Jr., a Columbus native who became an influential member on the University System of Georgia Board of Regents, has died.

Leebern died Saturday at the age of 85, according to his obituary on the Lord and Stephens Funeral Home in Athens. No cause of death was available before publication. His funeral will be a graveside service May 2, starting at 1 p.m., in Evergreen Memorial Park, 3655 Atlanta Highway in Athens.

In 1991, then-Gov. Zell Miller appointed Leebern to the USG Board of Regents. Leebern served five consecutive terms, including as chairman from 1994-95. In 2019, he retired from the board and was given the title of regent emeritus.

After graduating from Columbus High School in 1956, Leebern was a two-way lineman on the UGA football team from 1957-59. He is listed as the starting offensive right tackle for the Bulldogs squad that won the 1959 Southeastern Conference championship and the 1960 Orange Bowl. He earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from UGA.

Leebern returned to Columbus to join the family business, the Georgia Crown Distributing Co., a wholesaler and importer of liquor, wine, beer and bottled water. He became president of the company in 1968 and board chairman in 1992.

Among the professional and civic organizations he served, Leebern was a founding member of the University System of Georgia Foundation, past board chairman and past president of the Wine and Spirits Wholesalers of America and the Wine and Spirits Wholesalers of Georgia.

The Georgia Athletic Association honored Leebern in 2002 with the Circle of Distinction Award. The USG Foundation honored him with the 2011 Elridge McMillan Lifetime Achievement Award.

Leebern endowed three UGA scholarships for football and gymnastics. The locker room at Butts-Mehre Heritage Hall is named in his honor.

The Chattahoochee Valley Sports Hall of Fame inducted Leebern in 2001. Also that year, then-Rep. Saxby Chambliss, spoke a tribute to Leebern in the U.S. House of Representatives:

“Standing 6 feet 3 inches tall, Leebern was picked by the Dallas Texans in the first ever American Football League draft,” Chambliss said, according to the Congressional Record. “As he was getting ready to debut in the AFL, his father passed away. Instead of pursuing what would have been a career of fame and fortune in professional football, Don decided to return home to Columbus and take over the family business, Georgia Crown Distributing Company.

“It is not surprising what happened to the business. Georgia Crown Distributing Company has grown into one of the top 500 private companies in America. He built the small struggling wholesale beverage distributor into a thriving and diversified regional business, making him one of the most influential people in Georgia.”

Chambliss quoted former Auburn University football head Pat Dye, who was a teammate of Leebern’s at UGA and described the man known as “Big Don” this way: “It didn’t make any difference, practice or playing. He was always full speed. He absolutely would not lose. He’d find a way to win.”