Friday, March 15, 2002
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Friday, March 15, 2002 |
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Veteran journalist Hamrick dead at 51 Veteran newspaperman and Citizen Managing Editor Dave Hamrick died unexpectedly Wednesday night during a break in action at an adult soccer game in Fayetteville. Hamrick, 51, was one of the original five founders of The Fayette Citizen in 1993 after a long newspaper career in the Atlanta metro area. He reported on Fayetteville and Fayette County since the paper's founding in 1993, except for a stint as editor of a short-lived subsidiary, The Henry News-Leader, from August 1997 to January 1998. "We are all in shock and deeply saddened," said Citizen publisher Cal Beverly. "The newspaper has lost an irreplaceable professional; his colleagues have lost a warm and valued friend, and the reading public has lost his distinctive, very human print presence. His years of common-sense columns contained in our online archives now become a treasure that everyone can revisit to remember a clear, conservative voice that stood for freedom, integrity and individual responsibility." The cause of death has not yet been determined, but an autopsy was scheduled to be performed, the coroner's office confirmed. A witness told The Citizen that Hamrick collapsed several minutes into the halftime of a game as the team met to discuss strategy. Hamrick, a member of the United over-40 team, had volunteered to play in the game for another team which was short-handed, according to firsthand accounts. Hamrick was the co-manager of the United team, which was scheduled to play later that evening at the indoor Soccer Centre. Fayette County Administrator Chris Cofty said Hamrick was a nice person and "did a good job of reporting the facts." "He always gave us the courtesy of calling us (before running an article)," Cofty said. "I think he was very professional and very ethical in the way he went about his duty." Fayetteville City Manager Joe Morton said Hamrick had "a lot of integrity." "He always handled things in my opinion in an appropriate and very professional manner," Morton said. "It is a tremendous loss, there's no doubt about that." Hamrick was also a soccer aficionado and participated on numerous adult teams over the years. Kevin Bowers, a teammate who played with Hamrick this year, said he was always talking about strategy. "He was very knowledgeable about the game," Bowers said, adding that Hamrick was a good teammate. Hamrick began his newspaper career at The Rockdale Citizen in the early 1970s after earning a journalism degree from Georgia State University. He joined publisher Jerry Crane at the Sun Newspapers in Decatur in 1974, where he worked until becoming press secretary for Newt Gingrich in the late '70s. Crane, now retired, said he told Hamrick the detour into government might not be pleasant. "That's not the side of the desk you're going to be comfortable with," Crane said he told his young reporter. About three years later, Crane said, Hamrick returned as executive editor of the Sun newspaper family, headquartered in Decatur. The suburban group included the North DeKalb Sun, South DeKalb Sun, Clayton Sun, Decatur-DeKalb News-Era and Fayette Sun, where Hamrick remained until the chain folded its suburban publications in January of 1993. Hamrick, publisher Beverly and three other stockholders got together and put out the first edition of The Fayette Citizen three weeks later in February, 1993. Hamrick, born in Cartersville, Ga., was a "preacher's kid," son of a Southern Baptist minister who pastored First Baptist Church in Kennesaw, Jackson Hill Baptist Church, Atlanta, and Jones Prairie Baptist Church in Leggett, Kansas, during his childhood. John Hamrick said his son "grew up on the front pew of a Baptist church ... He was a fine man who took a lot of interest and cared for his parents. To me as a minister, this was very biblical." Hamrick enjoyed playing trombone and guitar and was often involved musically in worship services in area churches. Colleagues remember hearing him "play" trombone melodies using only his lips as the instrument as he pasted up newspaper pages. Hamrick was a member of the National Speleological Society and was an avid "caver," participating in many amateur cave explorations around the South. "Dave died doing something he loved in his case, playing soccer," wrote John Shiffert of Clayton College and State University. "It is in this light that I think we all would like to remember Dave and his life, his quiet enthusiasm for all he did, his subtle sense of humor, his erudition and his love for such diverse pastimes as soccer, exploring caves, the guitar and the trombone, reading science fiction, but, most of all, journalism. "Dave was a true professional who served the public in the Southern Crescent for 28 years at a variety of newspapers as a writer, columnist and editor, a rare public servant through his profession," Shiffert said. "I think Dave would also like to be remembered, in his own words, as a 'rare, endangered species in these parts, a Georgia native.'" Hamrick is survived by his wife, Terri Taylor-Hamrick, who is Development/Alumni Relations Director at Clayton College and State University in Morrow; a son, P. Gabriel Hamrick of Atlanta; a daughter, Nancy Hamrick of Dallas, Ga.; his parents, John C. and Martha Hamrick of Powder Springs; two brothers, Steve Hamrick of Marietta and John M. Hamrick of LaGrange. The family will receive visitors from 6-8 p.m. Friday at Ford-Stewart Funeral Home, 2047 Ga. Highway 138, Jonesboro. A memorial service is planned for Saturday at the funeral home at 2 p.m.
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