Homer Venske, 92, better known to Philadelphia TV viewers as longtime Channel 3 news anchor Vince Leonard, has died, the station reports.
The station, now known as CBS3, did not report when Mr. Leonard died or where. It said he had been fighting liver cancer.
A native of Minnesota, Mr. Leonard came to Philadelphia from Indianapolis in 1958 to anchor a 15-minute news program on Channel 3 when it was WRCV-TV, according to the Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia.
In 1965, Channel 3 became KYW-TV and Mr. Leonard was part of the original team when the station’s new owner, Westinghouse, introduced the Eyewitness News format.
He remained with Channel 3 until 1980, when he moved to Phoenix and joined KPNX-TV. Mr. Leonard retired in 1989.
Mr. Leonard never legally changed his name and his paychecks were issued to Homer Venske.
