A Sad Passing,.....

6abc is mourning the loss of Action News Sports Director Gary Papa, who passed away Friday, June 19, 2009.

Gary was born in Buffalo, New York, in 1954. Upstate New York would be his home for most of the next 27 years.

Gary went to Cornell University as an undergraduate, and actually considered a career as an attorney. He even earned his law degree at the University of Buffalo Law School.

But that's when the combination of sports and broadcasting got its hold on Gary. He went into television in Buffalo, and in Steubenville, Ohio.

In April 1981, Gary Papa came to Action News and the Delaware Valley. Gary's first report was from Milwaukee, where the Sixers were playing the Bucks in the NBA playoffs.