ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- David Osier, an editor who spent the last years of a distinguished career sharing his enthusiasm for journalism and his passion for excellence with colleagues at CNN.com, died Sunday in Atlanta after a battle with cancer. He was 62.
David Osier was working on a history of Georgia's Okefenokee Swamp.
Osier was known as a thorough copy editor whose eye for detail and broader thematic issues made every story he edited shine. He always sought to make stories better and pushed others to raise the level of their coverage.
"He had all the characteristics of a great journalist: nearly impossibly high standards, a tenacity for the truth and a love of words," said Diane DeVore, who worked with Osier on the CNN.com copy desk for three years. "Dave was more than a great editor. He was kind. He talked as much about his daughters as my dad talks about me and my sisters. Dave helped me through my dad's cancer. I only wish medicine had helped him through his."
In his time away from the newsroom, he was working on a history of Georgia's Okefenokee Swamp, an area he loved to explore by canoe whenever he had time. After one such trip, he showed co-workers a terrifyingly close picture he took of an alligator in the swamp. His daughter Elizabeth plans to finish the work her father started.
"David was a journalist by nature. He had a great curiosity, a passion for the truth, and a healthy skepticism about anything being reported. His work, though, was only a part of the man we knew. He was a devoted father, naturalist, mentor and friend. He lived his life to the fullest, and he will be sorely missed," said David Payne, senior vice president and general manager of CNN.com.
Before joining CNN.com in 1999, Osier worked at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, where he was an assistant managing editor. He also edited the Georgia Journal.
A graduate of the University of Florida's journalism program, he was a devoted Gators fan. He also was a member of the advisory board to the university's College of Journalism. He enjoyed mentoring students and colleagues alike.
He is survived by his wife, Mary Susan Osier, and his daughters Elizabeth Ann Osier and Sarah Suzanne Osier.
A memorial service is planned for Wednesday at 1 p.m. ET at St. Martin in the Fields Church in Atlanta. E-mail to a friend 
