Although A.D. “Pete” Correll grew up in Brunswick, the positive impacts he and his wife Ada Lee have made throughout Georgia have few equals. Both have served on numerous nonprofit boards and been involved in more than their share of fundraising campaigns, including those for the University of Georgia Foundation, the Georgia Aquarium, Emory University, the College of Coastal Georgia, and the Teen Center of the Boys and Girls Club of Southeast Georgia in Brunswick, which was named in honor of Pete’s late mother, Elizabeth F. Correll.

Pete, who served as president and CEO

of Georgia-Pacific Corporation for thirteen years, and later named chairman, was also instrumental in saving Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta. In 2007 he led a comprehensive, citywide $325 million campaign to build new facilities and services for the then-failing hospital. Drawing upon his and Ada Lee’s relationships among the city’s philanthropic community and his business ties around the nation, Pete co-led the Saving Grady Task Force . He also served for eight years as the Inaugural Chair of the new Board of Directors of the non-profit Grady Memorial Health Corporation. 

In 2018, the Corrells endowed a need-based scholarship program at the University of Georgia and became the Honorary Chairs of the university’s Commit to Georgia Campaign . The Correll family’s gift established the Correll Scholars Program for students who demonstrate significant financial need.

Fortunately for the entire state, the Corrells have been key supporters of major projects in Glynn County and on St. Simons. They provided a lead gift and were instrumental in the success of raising funds to acquire and protect Cannon’s Point Preserve . That 608-acre peninsula on the island’s north end was slated for development until community leaders like the Corrells joined forces and solicited gifts from hundreds of individuals, foundations, and businesses both locally and across the country.

Today, Cannon’s Point Preserve is one of the largest unspoiled tracts of wilderness in the Golden Isles. The Preserve includes more than six miles of shoreline and the last intact maritime forest on St. Simons. 

Photo of the 2.5-mile-long dirt road leading to the north-end ruins at Cannon’s Point Preserve

“Like most Brunswick youth,

I grew up not appreciating how wonderful

the Golden Isles are," says Pete. " It was just home.

However, when I graduated and moved on with my life --

we lived in seven states -- I realized how blessed we are. 

Our home is very special

and deserves our very best to protect her.”

Another Glynn County native, Ben Slade, one of the Land Trust’s founders who twice served as the organization’s executive director said recently, “One of the great pleasures in working for the Land Trust during the campaign to preserve Cannon’s Point was the opportunity to work with Pete Correll. He and I both grew up in the south end of Brunswick in the 1940s and 1950s, although we didn’t know each other at the time. I think Pete was inspired to conserve a beautiful natural area as the result of his experiences growing up with access to the marshes, creeks, and woods along the coast. This certainly was what motivated me, and to work with Pete just added extra satisfaction in the effort.” (Pictured above, left to right are Pete Correll, Hank Paulson, Bill Jones III, and Ben Slade at the Live Oak Society Reception in 2013.)

Pete and Ada Lee have two children and five grandchildren, all of whom reside in Atlanta and who love coastal Georgia almost as much as their parents and grandparents. Today, the Corrells remain major thought leaders and voices of influence in the state, and Pete continues to serve on the Land Trust’s Advisory Council and is a member of an important Cannon’s Point Preserve committee of advisers. 

The Reverend Joanna Adams, a retired Presbyterian minister and longtime friend of the Corrells has worked on countless community projects with Pete. " For all his many accomplishments, Pete is a man of few words. When he does speak, the room always grows quiet. Those present know that they are about to hear how the problem at hand can be solved, where the resources to solve it will be found, and what roadblocks need to be pushed aside to make it happen. They also know that he will do more than his part in all three endeavors. He just makes good things happen all over the place," according to Joanna, and then she adds:

"A few years ago, I was working on a prickly problem

in my church. One day, the phone rang. It was Pete.

Without so much as a hello, he asked,

'Joanna, what can I do to help?' And then he helped.

That's Pete all the way.

Ada Lee too, though Ada Lee always says hello. 

So many good things happen because they care." 

Whether it was raising funds to restore the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church (where both Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his father once preached), spearheading efforts to rename Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, or providing scholarships to students who attend colleges and universities across Georgia, good things continue to happen because of Pete Correll. He is one of this state’s towering figures. 

It is an honor to include him as one of the 20 in 20 Spotlights during the St. Simons Land Trust’s anniversary year. 



Thank you , Pete! 

(Ada Lee, too.)

From the entire Land Trust team, 

thank you for your partnership and support!