Buddy Wier, mental health activist
By John Temple Ligon Temple@TheColumbiaStar.com

Buddy Wier retired as a stockbroker in Feb. 2005. Wier and his wife Diane above the hillside of Marseilles in March 2005.

Joel A. Wier was born in Athens, Georgia, where his father was a heating and air- conditioning contractor. His mother was a registered nurse but mostly tended to the family contracting business. Wier's two sisters, one older and one younger, taught him how to respect and regard women.

Wier's first eight years of education were in Catholic schools, small and strict. He later moved to Athens High School, the town's biggest.

In high school Wier competed as a lettered swimmer, and in the summers he swam competitively. When he wasn't swimming, Wier worked for his father's contracting operation.

After high school graduation, Wier tweaked his academic standing for one year at the University of Georgia, enough to qualify for the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland. U.S. Sen. Herman Talmadge recommended Wier for his appointment at Annapolis.

Wier continued his team swimming in the NCAA while at the Naval Academy, and he also competed in ocean racing on 42- foot yawls. All the while he was at Annapolis, and even before, he had his eyes on becoming a pilot.

Upon graduation, Wier followed his long- term vision to pilot training stateside and to assignments in Asia, including the Philippines, Okinawa, and South Vietnam. His combat missions were mostly low- level interdiction flights at night using newfangled television and infrared cameras.

After five- and- a- half years in the Navy, Wier shifted to the private sector and flew as a corporate pilot for the Mumford Company based in Atlanta. Mumford had about 1,400 convenience stores and a collection of other outlets like Atlantic Ice Storage.

In 1974, Wier interviewed with Jack Graybill in the Columbia office of Robinson- Humphrey, where he first became a stockbroker. Wier stayed there as a stockbroker for 31 years. When he left Robinson- Humphrey just short of two years ago, it had become Smith- Barney.

Almost 10 years ago, Wier took a keen interest in mental health. He has since activated himself as a board member for the Mid- Carolina chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, where he attends monthly local education meetings and annual national conventions.

Nominated by the Richland County Legislative Delegation, Wier was appointed by Governor Hodges to sit on the board of the Columbia Area Mental Health Center (CAMHC) and has since been reappointed by Governor Sanford.

On the front burner at the CAMHC is a $10 million two- building proposal to help consolidate inadequate and fragmented acute and intensive service sites into one central location to ensure better continuity of care for Richland County's most psychiatrically disabled citizens.

Currently, the CAMHC is somewhat scattered between Elmwood Avenue and Palmetto Richland. The new buildings are designed for the CAMHC- owned property between Colonial Drive and Palmetto Richland, where the CAMCH could ideally consolidate on its own land and expand in a concentrated and convenient environment. Legislative action is the only source of funding.

On the homefront, Wier's other activities include building an ocean- front house in Lincoln City, Oregon, near his son who lives across the state line in California. Wier and his wife Diane also have a daughter in Pasadena, California, who is the marketing director for YellowPages.com. A second daughter lives in Columbia, and she has a daughter, two- and- a- half years old.

Star Profile