Longtime publisher of the Marietta Daily Journal, Otis A. Brumby Jr., died at his home on Saturday after battling prostate cancer for nearly two years.

He was 72. The AJC reports "the Marietta resident made a name for himself as a prominent businessman and journalist during a time when Atlanta’s suburbs were beginning to expand."

Brumby was also a force in local politics. He influenced decades of important decisions in Cobb County.

"I say comfortably that there has been no person in Cobb County that has contributed as much to the community as Otis Brumby,” says former Georgia Supreme Court Justice, Harris Hines.

Brumby got his start in the newspaper business at the Marietta Daily Journal, working for his father as an assistant to the publisher, back in 1965. Two years later he took over the top job.

Brumby went on to start the Neighbor Group of weekly community newspapers in 1969, growing the company into a collection of 24 newspapers, two magazines,
six websites and a weekly circulation of 375,000.

In addition to his newspaper work, Brumby also served on the state Board of Education, the state board of transportation and the Marietta School Board.

Brumby is survived by his wife, Martha Lee, daughters Spain, Lee, Betsy and Anna, son Otis III and 11 grandchildren.