R.I.P.: Former Philly Radio Newsman Gene Dillard

Gene Dillard

On Friday, July 24, Gene Dillard, a radio reporter for stations in Philadelphia who became a host for cable network TV programs in Trenton, died of kidney cancer.

He was 73 according to philly.com.

Dillard, whose legal name was Dillard E. Bird Jr., was South Jersey bureau chief from 1971 to 1981 for what is now Philadelphia radio station WFIL 560 AM.

After WFIL, he  spent two years as a coanchor for morning news at the former Philadelphia radio station WPEN 950 AM.

In 1983, Dowling said, he became a freelance reporter at the State House in Trenton, offering his work to radio stations in New York City and Philadelphia, among others.

He added television reporting in the 1990s, becoming the Trenton correspondent for the Cable Television Network of New Jersey (CTN), which telecast hearings, speeches, and legislative sessions.