Jasper Mayor David P. O’Mary, the city’s highest-ranking elected official since his election in 2016, has died, the city said in a statement.
O’Mary was 72.
O’Mary’s family informed the city of his death on Tuesday afternoon.
The statement did not list a cause of death for the Jasper mayor.
“Mayor O’Mary loved the City of Jasper, its residents, business community, and employees,” the statement went on to say.
O’Mary was elected mayor in 2016 and was unopposed for a second term in 20202.
“During his time as mayor, he led the way for the City of Jasper to achieve the greatest financial strength in its history and perhaps the greatest growth in retail and housing,” the city said. “He worked every day to ensure that the decisions made were as he put it, ‘what’s best for Jasper.’”
U.S. Rep. Robert Aderholt tweeted: “I know that he loved his city dearly and worked every single day to make it an even better place to work and live. His family and friends are in my prayers.”
A Jasper native, O’Mary lived in the city’s Eldridge community until his family moved to Winfield when his father died when O’Mary was a boy.
He graduated from Winfield High School, the University of Alabama and LSU’s Graduate School of Banking of the South, according to his bio on the city website.
O’Mary then returned to Walker County, where he served an eight-year stint in the Alabama National Guard and began a banking career at then-First National Bank of Jasper — now Synovus Bank — that spanned 39 years. He went on to serve as senior executive vice president of the bank.
Before he was elected mayor, O’Mary served on the Jasper Board of Education for 15 years, including nine as chairman.
“As Mayor, he has worked to strengthen the relationship between the city board of education, school administrators, and the city,” his bio stated.
The city said it plans to honor O’Mary in the near future.
