John W. Jacobs Jr. came home to Gainesville from World War II and built a media empire.

But he was remembered Wednesday as much for his philanthropic contributions and the inspiration he provided to others.

"Being around him was always an inspiration," said Ray Burch, a longtime family friend, "He was full of so many ideas and he was always thinking about something positive."

The local radio pioneer died Wednesday morning at Northeast Georgia Medical Center, surrounded by his family, following a stroke he suffered on Saturday.

He would have been 89 on Monday.

"It was a total family affair, which is typical for us" said Elizabeth Carswell, Jacobs' daughter. "We were all there, and it was very emotional."

Born in Gainesville in 1922, Jacobs served in the U.S. Army during World War II, surviving the Battle of the Bulge and receiving the Silver Star. After the war, he earned his journalism degree at the University of Missouri.

Returning home, he began his radio career in 1949 when he founded radio station WDUN-AM and began operating the second FM station in Georgia. He eventually acquired WGGA, the city's oldest radio station, and served as chairman in the family-run business, Jacobs Media.

He's responsible for introducing several people to the Gainesville media industry.

"John Jacobs is responsible for bringing me to Gainesville," said Ted Oglesby, a retired opinion editor for The Times, who worked under Jacobs early in his career.

When Jacobs decided to start a weekly newspaper, the Gainesville Tribune, he sought an editor and Oglesby stepped up.

"We were good friends ever since I came to Gainesville," Oglesby said. "He lived a very long, a very useful and very charitable life."

Mike Banks, director of development at the Mike Cottrell School of Business at North Georgia College & State University, credits Jacobs for his own involvement in journalism.

"I got involved in journalism and just loved it, and I went to John and said ‘I think I would like to maybe look at this as a career,' so he gave me my first job working there at the radio station on the weekends," Banks said. "I've got a 40-year tradition with John Jacobs. He's one of those people that has a tremendous impact on one's life and he did mine."

Jacobs also brought cable television, then just a conduit for receiving out-of-town broadcast stations, to Gainesville.

Over the years, Jacobs Media grew beyond radio stations to include a travel agency and a news website, Access North Georgia.

But Jacobs was more than just a successful businessman, family and friends recalled Wednesday. He was an outgoing man who enjoyed being around others.

"He really loved people," Carswell said. "It was never fake."

He was a strong supporter of Riverside Military Academy and Brenau University, and he was a leading force in the creation of the Northeast Georgia History Center.

He served Brenau as a member of the board of trustees for a half century. The university's mass communications and business building on Green Street was named for Jacobs in 1994.

If it weren't for Jacobs, that building would never have been acquired by the university, said Jack Burd, who was president of Brenau at the time.

When the building came up for auction, Jacobs approached Burd and said, "Let's go to the auction and bid on this building," Burd recalled.

As the auction progressed, the bid surpassed the university's limit, but Jacobs wasn't willing to give up and told Burd to, "‘Bid higher, bid higher,' and I said ‘John, we don't have the money."

Still determined, Jacobs responded, "Don't worry about it," and the building was theirs. As it turns out, Jacobs himself paid for about half the cost to acquire the building, Burd said.

"It was a surprise to me because ... I didn't know that he was that interested," Burd said.

Jacobs had a lifetime of accolades.

In June 2009, Jacobs was inducted into the Emmy Awards Gold Circle during the Southeastern Regional Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Awards in Buckhead. It is the academy's highest honor.

"There were 500 people there in the Grand Hyatt grand ballroom, and it was lovely," Jacobs said at the time. "I had my four granddaughters and their mamas there as my guests."

In November 2010, Jacobs and his wife, Martha, were honored in November 2010 as Philanthropists of the Year in a banquet sponsored by the Gainesville-based North Georgia Community Foundation.

"When I first learned of the recognition (concerning philanthropy), I told Martha ... that evidently the committee did not look at our bank account," he told the nearly 300 people attending the event.

In October, he won a Governor's Award in the Humanities from the Georgia Council on the Humanities.

He was inducted into the Georgia Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame in 1998.

Although he retired a decade ago at the insistence of his doctor following heart surgery, he remained an active presence at Jacobs Media. His son, Jay, runs the company today.

Shortly after his retirement, he became a moving force in the formation of the Northeast Georgia History Center at Brenau. In 2007, he spearheaded the drive to create "An American Freedom Garden," an exhibit at the center which honors America's military veterans.

Jacobs also wrote a book in 2009, "The Longer You Live," telling his life story and about his career in broadcasting. In the book, he tells of surviving the 1936 Gainesville tornado that killed more than 200 people and became the nation's fifth deadliest tornado.

Jacobs was an active member of Grace Episcopal Church, and was a longtime member and former president of the Gainesville Kiwanis Club.

While the mood was somber Wednesday among his friends, many took time to remember his many accomplishments.

"There's a giant of a man and he's no longer with us," Banks said. "And you wonder, ‘Who are those many people who are going to step up and fill those shoes?"

Jacobs is survived by his wife, Martha; son, Jay Jacobs; daughter, Elizabeth Carswell; and seven grandchildren.

Jacobs was particularly proud of his grandchildren, and they returned the admiration, Carswell said.

"For seven grandchildren to hang around a hospital since Saturday, almost around the clock, you know he was special," Carswell said.

Little & Davenport Funeral Home in Gainesville is handling funeral arrangements, which will be announced later.