Marcia Killingsworth, a retired publicist and communications director who worked at Georgia Public Broadcasting for more than two decades, died last month after a yearslong struggle with unspecified health issues, according to the Albany Herald of Albany, Ga. She was 69.
The Herald reported on Killingsworth’s death in a Sept. 13 profile that described her role as a watchdog of city government finances in her hometown of Edison, Ga., where she relocated in 2012.
Killingsworth earned a journalism degree from the University of Georgia’s Henry W. Grady School of Journalism. She worked at Georgia Public Broadcasting in Atlanta as a public relations manager from 1983 to 2005, according to her LinkedIn profile, then moved to Atlanta’s WABE for a job as director of communications.
“She was a Southern girl through and through but with a backbone of steel, a gentleness of spirit and an eagerness to see and do everything,” said Lee Monk, former communications director for Southern Educational Communications Association, forerunner of the National Educational Telecommunications Association. Monk knew Killingsworth as a professional colleague and a friend.
“Her super-sharp mind and playful attitude made her a joy to be around,” she said.
After retiring from public media in 2008, Killingsworth pursued her interests in journalism as a freelance writer and photographer for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and contributor to the hyperlocal news platform Patch. After moving back to her hometown, Killingsworth created a Facebook page, “Edison Today,” as a news hub for the small town.
Details about surviving family and memorial plans are not available.