David Skylar, BJ ’49, died March 15, 2016. He is remembered for everything from serving as campaign manager for U.S. Sen. Howard Metzenbaum’s three successful runs for office and building the Sun Newspapers chain of suburban weeklies in Greater Cleveland, to launching acclaimed ad campaigns, serving as Cuyahoga County grand jury foreman and member of the Ohio Lottery Commission, and bringing the city its first professional golf tournament. In his biography, “Tales From a Mad Man’s Wife,” written by his wife Marilyn, BJ ’48, Skylar considered business conducted over drinks and rounds of golf as a major part of his advertising work. After graduation, Skylar joined the Griswold-Eshleman advertising agency, where he ultimately became one of the youngest members of the board and a vice president at age 33. Their clients included General Electric, B.F. Goodrich, May Co., Sherwin-Williams and Penton Publishing. He left advertising in 1968 and joined with Howard Metzenbaum to form ComCorp, a media company that acquired the Sun Newspapers chain in 1969 and added other local papers to the group. After the newspaper chain was sold in 1976, he managed Metzenbaum’s Senate campaigns, then co-founded a marketing services company. In 1989, he became chairman of the Allen Broadcasting Co. that operated radio stations in Ohio. After working on George Voinovich’s successful campaign for governor in 1990, Skylar was appointed to the Ohio Lottery Commission from 1991-2001.

Updated: June 17, 2016