Cabell Brand, dead at 91, was titan of business and philanthopy

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Cabell Brand, dead at 91, was titan of business and philanthopy

Brand was a champion of education, health care, civil rights and ending poverty, and he continued to work for causes he treasured to the end.

Posted: Tuesday, January 13, 2015 9:30 pm
By Matt Chittum | [e-mail] | 981-3331

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Brand’s death represents the passing of a titan of business and philanthropy, and one of the most connected people in Virginia, able to call on governors, senators and even presidents at his leisure. He was a millionaire and a champion of education, health care, civil rights and ending poverty. ... “Cabell was always willing to fight the good fight no matter how big the odds,” longtime friend U.S. Sen. Mark Warner said Tuesday. “Virginia has been indelibly touched by Cabell.”
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Brand was born in Salem to conservative parents who despised President Franklin Roosevelt and his New Deal programs, even as their son secretly admired them. ... Brand went off to Virginia Military Institute, left it to fight in World War II, came back to earn his degree and then returned to Europe to work on implementation of the Marshall Plan to rebuild Europe.
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In 1965, Brand founded Total Action Against Poverty, now called Total Action for Progress, tapping into legislation and funding from President Lyndon Johnson’s War on Poverty. The agency created one of the first Head Start preschool programs in the country in Roanoke, and would pioneer other efforts that were replicated statewide, including getting water to rural homes through the Virginia Water Project and the Child Health Investment Partnership to provide health care to poor children and guidance to their parents.