ATLANTA - I. Owen Funderburg, considered by many as the man who salvaged Citizens Trust Bank, has died. He was 77. <br>
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Funderburg died of gall bladder cancer Saturday at his Atlanta home. When he became president of Citizens Trust Bank in 1975, it had lost $1.5 million the previous year. By the time he retired as chief executive officer in 1992, it had assets of $115 million. <br>
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Citizens Trust Bank is the nation's third largest black-owned bank. <br>
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``He was the right banker to take over,'' board chairman Herman J. Russell said. ``He was one of the most brilliant bankers I ever met.'' <br>
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Citizens Trust was founded in 1921 and now has assets of $295 million, making it the largest black-owned commercial bank in the Southeast, according to Citizens Trust president Jim Young. <br>
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Funderburg also served as director of the Georgia World Congress Center, the Underground Festival Inc. board and was a member of the Atlanta Business Hall of Fame. <br>
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He also was the first black graduate of the Graduate School of Banking at Rutgers University. <br>
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Funeral services were scheduled for 11 a.m. Thursday at Big Bethel AME Church. <br>
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Survivors include his wife, Clara Comeaux Funderburg; three sons, Ilon Owen Funderburg Jr. of Jonesboro; Douglas Funderburg and Ilon Edward George Funderburg, both of Atlanta; three stepsons, Jacques Woodson of Dunwoody, Abe Woodson and Clarence Woodson, both of Atlanta; a brother, George N. Funderburg of Philadelphia; and six grandchildren.
