Joseph G. Bilbee, 64, popular North Wildwood disc jockey

JOE BILBEE just wanted to make people happy.

And he was good at it.

When Joe was the disc jockey at Moore's Inlet, the legendary North Wildwood watering hole, or any number of venues in Philly, the dancing, singing and laughter shook the rafters.

Often, when Joe's shift was over, the nightclubs emptied out. The customers had come to see Joe, knowing that after being washed in his spirit and verve, all earthly cares would melt away.

A slight exaggeration, perhaps, but the fact was that Joe Bilbee could get a party going, keep it going and go out with a bang. He loved his fans, and they loved him.

Joseph G. Bilbee, who became part-owner of Moore's Inlet before it closed in 2005, and was a former escort on ski outings, a youth football coach and a devoted family man, was found dead of a heart attack Tuesday morning on a treadmill in the gym in his North Wildwood condo.

He had gone to the gym the night before to work out. He would have been 65 on Monday. He also had a house in Mayfair.

Joe was basically a Philly guy who never forgot his origins, friends said. He would start his evening entertainments by announcing, "I'm Joe Bilbee from Fox Chase."

He got his start in the entertainment business in the early '70s while working as an escort for ski outings run by Eastern Ski Tours. He would ride in one of the buses and escort the skiers to their hotels.

"There would be 46 people on a bus," said Maggie Devine-Pennock, who ran the tours. "By the time it got to the hotel, Joe would know the first and last names of everyone on the bus, as well as personal details about each one.

"One might have a headache. He would run into that person later and say, 'How's the headache?' He had a heart of gold."

The tours went to various mountain locations in Pennsylvania, New York and New England.

"One time, we had a Halloween party and nobody was dancing," Maggie said. "I told Joe to get on the mic and get everybody dancing. He did, and that was the beginning of his disc-jockey career."

Joe came to realize that he had a knack for getting people out of their seats and onto the dance floor. It was a knack he never lost.

Jerry Smith, a disc jockey at Westy's Irish Pub in North Wildwood, met Joe when Joe was spinning discs at the Fox Chase Inn in the early '70s. Joe took Jerry under his wing and helped him get started in the business.

"People went to see Joe to have a good time," Jerry said. "He had a lot of energy."

Maggie Pennock, who is retired from her job as director of special events for the University of the Sciences, was with Joe and a group of friends on May 20, 1979, when Joe auditioned for the DJ job at Moore's Inlet.

"There had been a benefit the night before and we had about 15 vehicles in a caravan going to Moore's," she said. "Joe was hired at $75 a week."

Maggie and Joe's brother, Jerome J. "Jerry" Bilbee Jr., recalled Joe's brief boxing career:

Joe always liked boxing, and on a dare he entered the ring at the old Blue Horizon in an amateur bout. Maggie recalled that Joe won the fight, but was so concerned about hurting his opponent, he kept saying, "Are you all right?"

Jerry's recollection is that his brother lost that fight after he knocked his opponent down and he himself was knocked down twice.

At any rate, Joe lost all desire to go back into the ring.

But he was always fond of athletics, and coached boys in football at the Fox-Roc Athletic Association for a few years.

"The kids loved him, because he was a big kid himself," his brother said.

Joe was born in Philadelphia to Jerome J. Bilbee Sr. and Gertrude F. Bilbee. He attended St. Cecilia Parochial School and graduated from Cardinal Dougherty High School in 1968.

He worked for a time with an electricians union. Jerry recalled the time he found Joe working on the Penrose Avenue Bridge and about to get into a bucket to be taken aloft.

"I said, 'Do you really want to get into that bucket?' " Jerry said. "He quit that day."

"He worked with me in the insurance business for a while, but couldn't handle it. He couldn't stand to be told no. I tried to tell him they weren't saying no to him, but to the insurance company. It didn't matter."

The closing of Moore's Inlet was a blow to Joe, everybody who worked there and its many loyal fans. It had been started in 1912 by the Moore family of Philadelphia, and became a classic watering hole.

During Prohibition, it was said, bootleggers would row to shore and stash their loot in nearby caves.

The late Mike Guadagno bought the place from the Moore family in 1976. Joe Bilbee became a partner in 1985, and devoted more time to administrative duties. Brother Jerry also had a part-ownership in later years.

Besides his brother, Joe is survived by two other brothers, James and John; three sisters, Janet Gertrude Cline, Joyce Williams and Joan Marie Waddell, and his longtime friend Kelly Ann Nowacky. He was predeceased by another sister, Judith Bilbee.

Services: Viewing 7 p.m. Monday at the Wackerman Funeral Home, 8060 Verree Road. Funeral Mass and burial will be private.

Donations may be made to the American Diabetes Association, 150 Monument Road, Suite 100, Bala Cynwyd, Pa., 19004.