Joseph H. Gillis

BOARDMAN-Former Channel 27 News Director Joseph H. Gillis died Wednesday, November 28, 2018 at Hospice House from complications after a fall. He was 84. Mr. Gillis was born in Toledo on October 1, 1934, the son of the late Dr. J. Harry and Edith M. Gillis. He attended elementary Schools and DeVilbiss High School in Toledo, where he was named outstanding male student in the 1952 graduating class. He received an Edgar Bergen scholarship to attend Northwestern University, where he studied radio and television broadcasting and film history and production. He received degrees in 1956 and 1959. Mr. Gillis began his broadcasting career in 1952 as a summer replacement announcer at WTOD radio in Toledo and served as that stations News Director from 1956 to 1958. He joined the news staff at WTOL-TV, Channel 11 in Toledo in 1959 and held several positions there, including News Director and Special Projects Director, during the next 17 years. While at Channel 11, he received numerous awards for journalistic achievement and served on the Publicity of Efficient Commission for the City of Toledo and as a member of the Toledo-Lucas County Safety Council. He was a member of Psi Upsilon International fraternity and Sigma Delta Chi National journalism fraternity. Mr. Gillis served six years in the U.S. Army Reserve. He left Toledo in 1976 to become News Director for WKBN-TV, where he developed one of the most successful news operations in the entire CBS network. He produced a series of reports on hazardous conditions at a waste disposal facility in Deerfield which both won an award for outstanding investigative reporting from the Cleveland Press Club and led to a federal-site cleanup of the dump. He is survived by a stepson, Reverend Steve (Linda) Bermick of Centerville. At his request, no funeral or memorial services are scheduled. Arrangements are by the Lane Family Funeral Homes-Canfield Chapel. Family and friends may view this obituary and send condolences at www.lanefuneralhomes.com