Funeral arrangements have been made for a Calhoun newspaper publisher who won numerous Associated Press and Georgia Press Association awards.

The Rome News reports 63-year-old John Willis died Tuesday at his house in Rome.

The Floyd County Coroner says Willis died of natural causes and was pronounced dead around 1:15 a.m.

Before working as publisher of the Calhoun Times and editorial page director of the Rome News-Tribune, Willis served as editor for the Roman Record.

Willis worked with News Publishing Co. for 27 years. The company, based in Rome, publishes daily and weekly newspapers throughout Georgia.

Willis was born in Osaka, Japan and graduated from the Virginia Military Institute.

A funeral service is scheduled for Saturday at 2 p.m. at the Rome First United Methodist Church.