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Family-placed obituaries

Read family-placed obituaries and online guestbooks from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Obituaries

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Credit: Courtesy of Donna Palmer

Leif Palmer, EPA attorney whose legal action helped build Atlantic Station, dies at 66

His ‘rather brilliant argument’ paved the way for the popular mixed-use development in Midtown, former colleague says.

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Credit: Courtesy of the Rieser family

Rosalind Rich Rieser, who danced with Atlanta Civic Ballet, dead at 86

Rosalind Rich Rieser, who was the great-granddaughter of Morris Rich, a founder of iconic Rich’s department store in Atlanta, has died at age 86.

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Credit: Courtesy of the Gray family

OBITUARY

Tony Gray, former president of the Atlanta Jamaican Association, dies at 77

Friends said Tony Gray loved his Jamaican culture and had a gift for connecting people across the Caribbean diaspora.

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Credit: Courtesy of the Martin family

OBITUARY

Margareta Martin, Scandinavian culture expert, dies at 95

Finnish native Margareta Martin helped establish a wide variety of cultural, business, artistic and culinary links between the Nordic world and Atlanta.

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Credit: jgetz@ajc.com

Bernard LaFayette Jr., civil rights strategist, dies at 85

The civil rights organizer helped lead the student sit-ins that desegregated Nashville’s lunch counters and later became a strategist in the Southern voting rights movement.

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Credit: AJC

OBITUARY

Former DeKalb County sheriff’s death marks end of tragic saga

The flamboyant and mercurial former DeKalb County sheriff died March 2 of natural causes at Augusta State Medical Prison.

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Credit: Courtesy of Life University

OBITUARY

Dr. Guy Riekeman, former Life University president and chancellor, dies at 76

An innovator in the chiropractic profession, he increased student enrollment to full capacity.

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Credit: AP

OBITUARY

Coleman Barks, UGA professor and poet who popularized Rumi, dies at 88

UGA poet Coleman Barks, celebrated for his own work and for bringing Rumi’s poetry to modern audiences, died in Athens surrounded by his family at age 88.

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Credit: Courtesy of Oscher family

OBITUARY

Jon Oscher, philanthropist and entrepreneur, dies at 93

The Cartersville resident supported Booth Museum of Western Art, the Tellus Science Museum and the Savoy Automobile Museum

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Credit: Courtesy of the Wills family

Carolyn Wills, Atlanta arts scene patron and community activist, dies at 89

Known for her work rescuing the Fox Theatre and championing Atlanta arts, Carolyn Wills dies at the age of 89 after a lifetime of civic leadership.

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Credit: Courtesy of Wade-Gayles family

OBITUARY

Dr. Gloria Wade-Gayles, Spelman College professor, writer, activist, dies at 88

Wade-Gayles died Jan. 25 of a heart attack, her family said. She is being remembered for her many accomplishments and activism.

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Credit: Courtesy of Bloom family

Herschel Bloom, prominent Atlanta attorney, dead at 82

Herschel Bloom, an Atlanta attorney with a passion for baseball, has died. Bloom was a longtime assistant coach of the East Cobb Yankees team for older high school players.

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Credit: AJC

Bill Hembree, GOP state representative, dies at 59

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Dr. William (Bill) H. Foege, Atlanta global public health giant, dies at 89

Dr. William (Bill) H. Foege, a former CDC director who helped eradicate smallpox and whose health work saved millions of lives, died Saturday in Atlanta at the age of 89.

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Credit: Courtesy of Wilson Nazario

Francisco A. Tomei-Torres, retired CDC environmental health scientist, dies at 73

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Barry Lynch, pioneer in computer programming, dies at 92

Barry Lynch displayed a sharp intelligence paired with superior analytical skills, his family said. Solving problems, even thorny ones, came naturally to him.


Longtime radio producer and advertising executive John Lambis, who died Dec. 26 at age 76 after a brief illness, loved sailing and owned sailboats, his family said. (Courtesy of Kristina Sullivan)

Credit: Photo courtesy of Kristina Sullivan

John Lambis, longtime radio producer and advertising executive, dies at 76

Bob Lacey — one half of Radio Hall of Fame duo Bob & Sheri — credits the late John Lambis with helping lauch his career when they were both 19 in Massachusetts.

Anne Isenhower, respected public relations expert, has died

Anne Isenhower, a well-known public relations professional, died Jan. 1 in her Atlanta home, according to her close friend Danielle Gordon. Isenhower was 59.

T. Rogers Wade, mentor and adviser to prominent Georgia politicians, has died

T. Rogers Wade mentored generations of young Georgians, like Attorney General Chris Carr, seeking traction in politics and the business world.

Atlanta civil rights leader and international human rights activist Joe Beasley, pictured in 2011, died Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025, at age 88. (Curtis Compton/AJC 2011 )

Credit: ccompton@ajc.com

Atlanta’s Joe Beasley, international civil and human rights advocate, dies

Joe Beasley who was just two weeks shy of his 89th birthday, according to his family, was "a moral force in Atlanta."

Jon Abercrombie, advocate for ending homelessness, dies at 77

He started the nonprofit Charis Community Housing and was one of President Bush’s Thousand Points of Light.

Howard Halpern, restaurateur and philanthropist, dies at 85

Halpern had a towering reputation as a processor and distributor of meat and seafood. He was a tough businessman but also a generous philanthropist and employer.

Pat Epps founded Epps Air Service with his brothers at DeKalb-Peachtree Airport in 1965. The fixed-base operator sold, fueled, chartered, stored and managed airplanes at the airport as Epps Aviation until it was sold in 2023. (Courtesy of the Epps family)

Credit: Epps Family

Pat Epps, pioneering force in aviation, dies at 91

Aviation pioneer Pat Epps founded what became Epps Aviation at DeKalb-Peachtree Airport in the 1960s and later helped recover a WWII fighter jet under ice in Greenland.

OBITUARY

Dave Hayward, who chronicled Atlanta’s LGBTQ history, dead at 76

When it comes to Atlanta LGBTQ history, few people knew as much as Dave Hayward, who died at the age of 76.

George Olmstead, successful executive search firm founder, dies at 81

He wasn’t just a businessman, daughter says. Olmstead was a great dancer with a sharp wit.

In 2016, Tom Coffin joined a small group protesting that Qatar Airways was adding a new route to Atlanta. (Ben Gray/AJC)
OBITUARY

Tom Coffin, activist and former head Atlanta arborist, dies at 82

Among his many talents, he photographed life in the city for years.

Bob Roarty, visionary co-founder of Atlanta Vintage Books, dies

Bob Roarty died Sept. 30 at his Atlanta home from a rare neurodegenerative disease. He is remembered for his kindness and making his rare book store a haven for booklovers.

Judge Ronald Ramsey helped create city of Stonecrest and believed in second chances

Judge Ronald Ramsey, who helped create the city of Stonecrest and mentored many in Georgia law and politics, died Sept. 25 at 66 after a long cancer battle.

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Credit: Jason Getz / AJC

‘He was a dreamer’: Atlanta and national leaders remember Tom Cousins

Warren Buffett, Sam Nunn and other major figures shared remembrances of Tom Cousins.

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Credit: ANDY SHARP / AJC FILE

Tom Cousins, joyful developer who shaped lives and Atlanta’s skyline, dies

Tom Cousins, who reshaped Atlanta's skyline and brought pro basketball and hockey to the city, dies at 93. He was also a legendary philanthropist and political influencer.

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Credit: Thomas Kennedy Sampson & Tompkins LLP

Mayor Andre Dickens praises deceased Thomas G. Sampson Sr. as ‘legal giant’

Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens, in a statement on the death of Thomas G. Sampson Sr., praised Sampson as "a legal giant" and "civic trailblazer."

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Credit: Contributed by Lie-Nielsen family

John Lie-Nielsen, founder of Atlanta apartment management giant, dies

Entrepreneur John Lie-Nielsen, who died at age 90, founded Atlanta's Johnstown Properties, one of the country’s largest apartment management companies in the 1980s.

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Credit: AJC

Worth Long made history, then recorded it

Worth Long was a prize-winning documentarian and musicologist and worked in the Civil Rights Movement.

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Credit: Courtesy of Wilkinson Family

Jack Wilkinson, celebrated chronicler of Georgia sports, dies at 74

Jack Wilkinson, celebrated chronicler of Georgia sports and longtime Atlanta Journal-Constitution storyteller, dies at 74.

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Credit: T. Levette Bagwell

Duane Jackson, Morehouse insect expert, dies at 77

Duane Jackson's love of insects made him an expert in his field.

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Credit: Bob Andres/AJC

Former lawmaker Susan Holmes was a force in Republican politics

Former state Rep. Susan Holmes, died on April 30. She was also Monticello's first woman mayor and a six-term member of the Georgia House.

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Credit: Courtesy

Harry DeMille, used-record impresario, raconteur, dies at 74

Harry DeMille's Wax 'N' Facts record store survived from age of hippies to the present

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Credit: Rodney Ho

Cadillac Jack, longtime Atlanta country radio host, has died

William "Cadillac Jack" Choate, a long-time country radio deejay in Atlanta, died at age 51 of a heart attack April 17, 2025.