Mark H. Yellen, a former Buffalo resident and Nichols School graduate who was an

entrepreneur, consultant and real estate and software developer, died Monday evening in the

crash of a single-engine plane in Tuscaloosa, Ala.

Yellen, 40, was headed home to Memphis, Tenn., from the Dominican Republic, where he

managed and developed real estate, when his 2005 Cirrus SR22 aircraft crashed while landing at

Tuscaloosa Regional Airport at about 7:30 p.m., according to the Tuscaloosa News.

Yellen had been a licensed pilot for at least 10 years, family members said. It was not

immediately clear whether the plane was his or whether he was flying it, they said.

News of the crash, which also killed Dr. Paula Moffett, 56, a Memphis anesthesiologist who

was traveling with Yellen, devastated Yellen's family. They gathered at the Amherst home of

Yellen's parents late Tuesday, still with few details of the tragedy.

"We really don't know anything more than what's been online [in the news reports]," said

Sheldon Yellen, Mark's brother. "Everybody is very upset by it."

Tuscaloosa County Metro Homicide Unit Capt. Loyd Baker told the Tuscaloosa News that Yellen

and Moffet were due to stop in Tuscaloosa to visit Moffett's daughter, who was in the terminal

when the crash occurred.

Police had no immediate explanation for what caused of the crash. The skies were clear and

the winds light, with temperatures about 60 degrees at the time, according to information from

the National Weather Service.

Officials from the Federal Aviation Administration arrived Tuesday morning to start an

investigation.

Sheldon Yellen said he also spoke with Baker and confirmed what had been reported.

"It's a terrible tragedy," said Jeffrey H. Katz, a Williamsville attorney who worked for and

with Yellen and considered him a friend. "His memory should be honored."

Katz called Yellen a man who "at his core did like to help other people," was a big Buffalo

booster and had "the most creative intellect of anyone I've ever known."

"What made Mark special was his zest for life — his desire to learn new things and

take on new challenges," Katz said.

Yellen, who was voted "First to Make a Million" at Nichols, worked as a business consultant

and developed real estate in Third World countries. His business in the Dominican Republic was

a micro-loan and underwriting program for low-income families, according to his Web site.

He was profiled in a 2007 series in The Buffalo News about members of the Class of 1987.

The series noted that in 1997, he co-founded Appraisal.com, a real estate data company and

survivor of the dot-com boom of the 1990s.

The company, which employed people here and in India, quickly grew into a

multimillion-dollar success, increasing employment and shifting its base from Lancaster to 620

Main St. in the Theater District. Yellen worked there until 2007 when the mortgage crisis

struck. That led to the shuttering of the company the following year.

Yellen, according to his online biography, also built Precision Real Estate, a development

and investment company based in the Dominican Republic that, among other business ventures,

operates the Mirabon at Playa Las Canas resort of high-end beachfront villas.

Five years ago, Yellen had developed a plan to convert the 1880s-era mansion at Wendt Beach

into a privately run bed and breakfast under the name "Precision Park Services." Bureaucracy

and public outcry against the proposal were cited as reasons for scuttling the plan in 2006.

Yellen's brother said Yellen enjoyed business, real estate, cooking, art and flying planes.

Yellen, in the biography on his website, touts that he had a passion for "horses, opera and

world travel" and had been to 226 cities as of January.

He always "liked to be on the move," according to his brother.

"Mark was very bright; a real entrepreneur," Sheldon Yellen said. "He was very energetic

and when it came to computers and software, he was very skilled in those areas."

Entrepreneurship runs through the family's bloodlines. Yellen's late grandfather, Fred

Lippa, founded Lancaster Steel.

Surviving, in addition to Yellen's brother are his parents, Jack and Barbara; a son, Adam;

a sister, Deborah; and grandmothers Anne Lippa and Toby Yellen.

Services will be at 1:30 p.m. Thursday in Temple Beth Am, 4660 Sheridan Drive, Amherst.

News Suburban Editor Bruce Andriatch contributed to this report.