PORTLAND, Ore. -- The patriarch of the largest donor family to Virginia Tech and one of the namesakes of the university's business school died last week at age 97.

Robert B. Pamplin Sr., the former chairman of timber giant Georgia-Pacific Corp., died June 24.

His son, Robert B. Pamplin Jr., owner of the Pamplin Media Group that includes Community Newspapers, radio stations and the Portland Tribune, said his father died "very peacefully" and suffered from Alzheimer's disease.

Robert Pamplin Sr. went to work as an accountant for Georgia-Pacific when he graduated from Virginia Tech in 1933 and continued until his retirement in November 1976.

After retirement he joined his son to form the R.B. Pamplin Corp., a holding and investment company that includes two major operations, Ross Island Sand & Gravel Co. in Oregon and Mount Vernon Mills Inc. in South Carolina, which produces fabric.

Other ventures include Columbia Empire Farms and Pamplin Communications Corp., the parent of Pamplin Broadcasting Corp. and Oregon Publication Corp., which includes radio stations, video entertainment, newspapers and retail stores.

The Pamplins also have interests in petroleum refining and concrete and asphalt manufacturing. The R.B. Pamplin Corp. Web site says it has 7,500 employees.

The Pamplin family is the largest single donor in Tech history, giving about $25 million to the Pamplin College of Business and about $10 million to other areas of the university, most notably the Corps of Cadets and the Pamplin Scholars Program. The scholars program is an initiative to make scholarships available to students at every Virginia high school.

The business school was named after Pamplin and his son, Robert B. Pamplin Jr., in 1986, according to the university. Robert Pamplin Sr., a native of Dinwiddie County, earned a bachelor's degree in business administration from Virginia Tech.

"Pamplin was a man who was driven by personal values and a large part of that was built by his Virginia Tech experience in Corps of Cadets," Tech spokesman Larry Hincker said Wednesday.

"Mr. Pamplin and his family have played a singular role in helping us grow and develop into a nationally ranked business school," Pamplin College dean Richard E. Sorensen said in a university release "Their extraordinary support has helped us recruit and retain outstanding students and faculty members, expand and develop our academic programs, and undertake new construction and renovation."

Staff writer Greg Esposito contributed to this report.