George M. Carey | Music producer, 57

George M. Carey, 57, of Glen Mills, a music producer and community activist, died of complications from diabetes Jan. 18 at Riddle Memorial Hospital in Media.

Mr. Carey graduated from John Bartram High School in Southwest Philadelphia. He earned a bachelor's degree from Ursinus College and a master's degree in business administration and administrative medicine from Columbia University.

For several years in the 1970s, he worked in Philadelphia for the Pennsylvania Governor's Council on Drug and Alcohol Abuse. He then partnered with business associates to open discos and nightclubs in New York City and Philadelphia. In the 1980s he became a music producer and manager for rhythm-and-blues groups; the Philadelphia funk-and-soul band, Myx; and several solo artists.

He collaborated with singer Stevie Wonder, a longtime friend, to produce the "Don't Drive Drunk" ad for the National Ad Council and campaigned with Wonder to make Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday a national holiday.

Mr. Carey was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes when he was in his early teens, said his wife, Luz Rivera Carey. After his first kidney transplant in 1986, she said, he was unable to work full time. Over a 22-year span, he endured 77 surgeries for problems related to his diabetes and to injuries suffered in an automobile crash as a young man.

In addition to his wife of 24 years, Mr. Carey is survived by a daughter, Eneida; a son, Julius; his parents, George and Constance Carey; two brothers; and his former wife, Robin Wilkerson.

An "uplifting life celebration" will be at 11 a.m. tomorrow at First African Baptist Church, 901 Clifton Ave., Sharon Hill. Friends may call at 9 a.m. Burial will be in Edgewood Cemetery, Glen Mills.