Dave Frankel, popular TV weatherman in Philly, has died
Frankel joined WPVI-TV in 1984 and later worked as an anchor on KYW-TV. He later became a lawyer.
Dave Frankel, 67, a popular TV weatherman on WPVI channel 6 who later became a lawyer, died Wednesday, Feb. 26, after a long battle with a neurodegenerative disease, his wife, Marjie, said.
Earlier this month, his wife posted on his Facebook account that Mr. Frankel, who lived in Newtown Square, was diagnosed years earlier with primary progressive aphasia, a form of frontotemporal dementia.
“Several years ago, he discovered that he could no longer recall the names that had once so readily come to him. I took notice one summer evening, when the issue broadened to word comprehension, as he no longer knew what ‘firefly’ meant,” she wrote.
After his diagnosis, Mr. Frankel wanted to do “anything and everything” to slow or reverse the condition, his wife wrote, and his family began a years-long search for treatments.
On Wednesday afternoon, she posted that Mr. Frankel “passed away peacefully at home early this morning, surrounded by his loved ones.”
Mr. Frankel grew up in Monmouth County, N.J., and graduated in 1979 from Dartmouth College and was planning to attend Dickinson School of Law to become a lawyer like his father. But an internship at a local TV station in Vermont turned into a news anchor job and a broadcast career that lasted until the early 2000s.
After a stint in Miami, Mr. Frankel in 1984 landed at WPVI, now known as 6abc, as an investigative reporter.
Mr. Frankel was not a meteorologist, but one day in 1989 he happened to be available when the station’s lead weatherman was injured and the backup was out of town.
“They needed someone to fill in for one night, and I happened to be in the newsroom,’’ Mr. Frankel told The Inquirer in 1998. “I didn’t know anything particular about weather. At the time, it was just sort of a quirky thing. The next day, I figured to be back reporting.’’
But then the back-up weatherman left the station for another job, and Mr. Frankel began a new phase of his career. He handled weather in the morning and at noon.
He was named “Best Weatherperson” by Philadelphia Magazine in 1990 and 1991, according to the Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia website.
He also became a tech reporter for the station in the mid-1990s, explaining the internet and email to viewers, 6abc reported.
Mr. Frankel left WPVI and in 1998 started work as an anchor at KYW, now known as CBS3. That lasted for only a couple of years, and then Mr. Frankel decided to pursue the law degree he bypassed when his TV career began.
In 2006, he graduated cum laude from the Villanova University School of Law. He joined a Philadelphia law firm, then later began his own, Frankel and Kershenbaum.
During his time on TV, he won two Emmy Awards. In 2017, Mr. Frankel was inducted into the Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia Hall of Fame.
For many years, he was active with the Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation for Childhood Cancer.
Mr. Frankel is survived by his wife of 39 years; children Bailey, Scott, and Charlie; and six grandchildren.
Funeral services are planned for noon Sunday, March 2, at the Inn at Villanova University, 601 County Line Rd., Wayne, Pa.. 19807. Donations may be made to the Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation, 333 E. Lancaster Ave., Suite 414, Wynnewood, Pa., 19096.