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By BILL PEACE; Times Leader Staff Writer
Tuesday, February 14, 1995 Page: 3A
WILKES-BARRE — Thomas P. Shelburne Jr., a pioneer in local television and
radio, was remembered Monday by friends and colleagues as a “quiet giant who
constantly worked toward improving the area.”
Shelburne, 82, of Centermoreland, Wyoming County, died Sunday in North
Carolina after an illness. He was the former president and chairman of the
board of WNEP-TV, Channel 16.
He was involved with numerous community organizations including the
Northeastern Pennsylvania Philharmonic Society, Environmental Council of the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and the Greater Wilkes-Barre Chamber of
Commerce.
“His philosophy was even though he was one person in one part of the world,
he wanted to make things better. He wanted to lift the sights of Northeastern
Pennsylvania,” his wife, Catherine, said Monday from North Carolina.
She said she plans to return to the area after his burial in Virginia.
Roy E. Morgan of Forty Fort met Shelburne in Washington, D.C., during World
War II when the two men worked in the federal Office of Price Administration.
After the war, Morgan and Shelburne remained friends. Shelburne was a teacher
before the war.
“He said to me, `Roy, I don’t really want to go back to public teaching. If
anything turns up tell me about it,’ ” Morgan said. And it did.
In December 1946, the two friends and six other men invested $10,000 each
in WILK-AM radio in Wilkes-Barre and formed the Wyoming Valley Broadcasting
Company. The short-lived WILK-TV, Channel 34, was on the air for five years,
from 1953 to 1958.
“He fit into the communications business well,” Morgan said.
In May 1973, Shelburne and a group of local stockholders including former
Gov. William W. Scranton purchased WNEP-TV, Channel 16, from the Taft
Broadcasting Company for $3.9 million. Shelburne was president and chairman of
the board of the television station from 1974 to 1985.
Tom Kiley, a friend of Shelburne’s for four decades and former president of
First Eastern Bank, called Shelburne a wonderful, gentle, serious-minded man
who was concerned with both the environment and the community.
“He was a quiet giant in the community who constantly worked toward
improving the area,” said Kiley, who recalled that Shelburne was instrumental
in gaining the international status for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton
International Airport in Avoca.
Among his many community activities, Shelburne was a board member of the
Economic Development Council of Northeastern Pennsylvania for several years
and its president from 1976 to 1978.
“He was a strong fighter for what he believed. He was very active in
promoting the regionalism of Hazleton, Scranton, and Wilkes-Barre,” said
Howard Grossman, executive director of the council.
“He was simply an outstanding humanitarian and someone we will greatly
miss,” he said.
In addition to his wife, Shelburne is survived by two children.
His obituary appears on Page 7A.
Thomas Shelburne Jr.