Another Sad Day for Philadelphia Sports; Gary Papa Loses Battle With Cancer

As you may know I grew up watching Action News on WPVI in Philadelphia. For years the news team on channel six entered my life every day to give me the latest news, weather and sports. The channel six news team is my favorite group in Philadelphia and I have never found any other station to match their genuine attitude.

Today Action News lost one of my favorites, sports director Gary Papa. It seems as though it was inevitable, as I have not really seen him on the air in a while, but Papa lost his battle with prostate cancer this afternoon at the age of 54 years old.

I can not tell you how many times in my life I have watched the news until I saw Papa give me the scoop on the Phillies, Eagles, Flyers, Sixers or whatever else was going on. If he was not at the desk next to Jim Gardner he was live at Veterans Stadium as the Phillies were concluding batting practice, or he was on the sideline for the Eagles.

Five years ago it was announced that Papa was diagnosed with prostate cancer and he battled it like a champion. He seemed to have gotten past it but Papa had to return to treatment on a few occasions. Today Pap just could not fight it any longer and the Philadelphia region lost one of the most spirited sports anchor around.

Philadelphia has had a rough year in the sports world. First Harry Kalas, then Danny Ozark, and now Gary Papa.

Papa is survived by his wife Kathleen and his sons Tucker and Nathanial. My heart goes out to them. Please feel free to share your memories and thoughts about Papa in the comments section.


Remembering Gary Papa (6abc.com)
Papa's first Action News report (6abc.com)
Papa Slideshow (6abc.com)
Jim Gardner breaks the news (6abc.com)