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Posted: Thursday, April 14th, 2005 5:30 AM HST

Santa Rosa Press Democrat director of photography dies in Hawaii

By Associated Press

HONOLULU (AP) John Metzger -- the director of photography for The Press Democrat of Santa Rosa, California, died today of a heart attack in Hawaii. He was 56. Metzger oversaw the newspaper's Pulitzer Prize winning photos in 1996. His wife, Becca, says Metzger had a heart attack during a family reunion. Metzger went to Oahu to visit the family of his oldest son John. The Army specialist who had just returned from a year's service in Afghanistan. Metzger was bothered by chest pains Monday and went to a hospital to get checked out. He was released, but Becca Metzger awoke about 1 a-m today to find her husband sitting on the floor and gasping for breath before collapsing. Paramedics could not revive him. Metzger joined The Press Democrat in 1993, and oversaw former staff photographer Annie Wells. Her photos of Santa Rosa firefighters' rescue of a girl caught in a raging creek in 1996 won a Pulitzer Prize. (Copyright 2005 Associated Press. All rights reserved.)