Carroll F. Knicely, former owner, editor and publisher of the Glasgow Daily Times, died Thursday morning at T.J. Samson Community Hospital. He was 77.

A native of Staunton, Va., Knicely rose from an apprentice linotype operator at a small Virginia newspaper to owner of a newspaper publishing group and a long and varied business career, including Secretary of the Kentucky Commerce Cabinet. During his tenure in state government, he helped three Kentucky governors bring an estimated 100,000 industrial jobs to the state.

He came to Glasgow in 1957 as president, editor and publisher of the Glasgow Daily Times in partnership with his former boss at the Waynesboro News-Virginian, Louis Spillman.

In 1958, Knicely led the effort to convert to offset printing, the first daily newspaper east of the Mississippi to do so, and only the third daily newspaper in the country to print on a rotary web offset press.

Knicely became an expert in the method and the Glasgow operation was a training ground for what is now the accepted way to print a newspaper. The change also necessitated the move from the West Public Square to larger quarters in a former auto dealership building on South Green Street.

In 1963, Knicely and his wife, Evelyn, became sole owners of the Glasgow Daily Times and Glasgow Publishing Corp. He later sold stock in the newspaper but retained 86 percent ownership.

In 1967, Glasgow Publishing acquired its weekly competitor, the Glasgow Republican, which he continued to publish under that name as long as he owned Glasgow Publishing.

During his days in newspapering, Knicely also owned interests in newspapers in Columbia, Campbellsville, Middlesboro, Hopkinsville (Fort Campbell), Pineville, Scottsville, Shepherdsville and owned a printing facility near Louisville. He also had part ownership of a weekly newspaper in Westmoreland, Tenn., all under the auspices of Associated Publications.

As a publisher, he was fearless in his pursuit of improvements of the community, often taking unpopular stands on controversial issues and butting heads with community leaders.

It was largely through his efforts that Cave City received funding for the Cave City Convention Center and he was recognized by the Cave City Chamber for his efforts.

He sold his two Glasgow newspapers in 1976 to Donrey Media Group of Fort Smith, Ark., but remained with the group in an advisory capacity for a year.

Also during his time as a newspaper publisher in Glasgow, he was interim Postmaster from 1966 to 1968.

He served the newspaper industry in a number of ways, including president of the Kentucky Press Association and president of the Kentucky Journalism Foundation. He was named the Most Valuable Member of the Kentucky Press Association and, under his leadership, the Glasgow Daily Times received numerous KPA awards, including being named the best newspaper in its class in 1967.

He was a former national president of the Travelers Protective Association with a national membership of nearly a quarter million. He also served as president of the Kentucky TPA and Post B TPA.

A longtime supporter of Western Kentucky University, he served and was elected vice chair of the WKU Board of Regents beginning in 1976. He was instrumental in the success of the university’s nationally known journalism department. WKU’s economic development program’s building on Nashville Road in Bowling Green is named in his honor.