BANGOR (AP) – Carroll Astbury, a longtime reporter and editor at the Bangor Daily News, died unexpectedly Friday at a Bangor hospital. He was 58.

Astbury worked for the paper for 22 years, first in the promotions department and later as a business reporter, business editor, assignment editor and news editor.

His colleagues remembered him for his outgoing personality and his love of people and of storytelling.

“Carroll loved his job because he loved people, and journalism gave him a chance to tell their stories, to share a bit of something he had discovered,” said Julie Murchison Harris, managing editor. “He had a creative mind that helped him stay positive and look for the fun life offered.”

Mark Woodward, executive editor, said Astbury’s personality allowed him to get to know quickly the people he was writing about.

Astbury, who lived in Hampden, grew up in Blue Hill and graduated from Bowdoin College in 1970. He was taking courses at Northeastern University in Boston when he was drafted into the military in 1971.

Astbury joined the Navy and was sent to Germany, where he was stationed as a communications specialist. He and his wife, Leslie, returned to Maine when he left the service in 1974.

He worked as an economic research analyst with the Maine Department of Labor from 1975 until he joined the Bangor Daily News in 1984 in the promotions department. Two years later, he became a business writer.

Funeral services are scheduled for 1 p.m. today at the Brookings-Smith funeral home in Brewer.

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