Gary Papa was a sportscaster with WPVI-TV

WPVI-TV

WPVI-TV, channel 6, is an owned-and-operated television station of the Walt Disney Company-owned American Broadcasting Company, located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. WPVI has its studios located on the border between Philadelphia and Bala Cynwyd, and its transmitter is located in the...

 in Philadelphia from April 1981 to June 2009 and was the 5:30 p.m., 6 p.m., and 11:00 p.m. sportcaster. He joined the station as a weekend sportscaster and was promoted to the 6:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m. newscasts in 1991, and was named sports director one year prior. In June 2005, he added the 5:30 p.m. newscast to his duties on an interim basis.

Prior to working at WPVI, Papa worked at WGR-TV

WGRZ-TV

WGRZ, virtual channel 2 , is the NBC-affiliated television station in Buffalo, New York. Its studio is located at 259 Delaware Avenue in downtown Buffalo. Its transmitter is located at 11530 Warner Hill Road in South Wales, New York...

 in his hometown of Buffalo, New York

Buffalo, New York

Buffalo is the second most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City. Located in Western New York on the eastern shores of Lake Erie and at the head of the Niagara River across from Fort Erie, Ontario, Buffalo is the seat of Erie County and the principal city of the...

.

Papa co-hosted the Saturday evening public affairs show Primetime Weekend with Cecily Tynan

Cecily Tynan

Cecily Tynan is an American television reporter who has been with WPVI-TV since 1995. Currently, she is the 5, 6, & 11 p.m. weathercaster...

. He had hosted the program since December 3, 1983, when he took over after the death of Jim O'Brien

Jim O'Brien (reporter)

Jim O'Brien was the stage name of James Oldham , who came to Philadelphia in 1970 to become a disc jockey at radio station WFIL-AM, after short stints at KHJ in Los Angeles and WOR-FM in New York City....

.

On April 20, 2004, he revealed to viewers that he had been receiving treatment for prostate cancer

Prostate cancer

Prostate cancer is a form of cancer that develops in the prostate, a gland in the male reproductive system. Most prostate cancers are slow growing; however, there are cases of aggressive prostate cancers. The cancer cells may metastasize from the prostate to other parts of the body, particularly...

 and lost his hair as a result. He continued to work while receiving chemotherapy

Chemotherapy

Chemotherapy is the treatment of cancer with an antineoplastic drug or with a combination of such drugs into a standardized treatment regimen....

. Three years later in July 2007, during the 6:00PM Action News broadcast, Papa along with Jim Gardner

Jim Gardner (broadcaster)

Jim Gardner is the stage name of James Goldman , an American news anchor for WPVI-TV in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.A native New Yorker, Jim has lived most of his adult life in the Delaware Valley. In 1970, Jim received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Columbia University...

 announced that he once again was going through chemotherapy.

Papa died on June 19, 2009 at 2:57 p.m. at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania

Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania

The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania is a hospital affiliated with the University of Pennsylvania Health System located in the University City section of West Philadelphia. The hospital was founded at its current location in 1874 by the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine,...

, at the age of 54. He is survived by his wife, Kathleen, and his two sons, Nathaniel and Tucker.