Louis William Sabatino, 70, Phila. newspaper executive

Louis William "Bill" Sabatino, 70, a longtime labor relations executive for the company that owned The Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News, died Sept. 6 at his home in Gulf Shores, Ala.

He was diagnosed with leukemia last year and was under a physician's care at the time of his death.

A professional football defensive lineman for the Cleveland Browns and the Atlanta Falcons in the late 1960s, Mr. Sabatino went on to become a federal mediator before his career as a newspaper executive.

He worked for Philadelphia Newspapers Inc. from 1990 to 2001, when it was a subsidiary of the Knight Ridder Inc. newspaper chain.

In 1999, as executive vice president of labor relations, Mr. Sabatino played a pivotal role in negotiating a six-year contract extension for 2,500 union employees at the newspapers. After retiring, he came back to help management on a subsequent contract negotiation in 2006.

Mr. Sabatino was tough but fair and "a really decent guy to deal with," said John Laigaie, president of Teamsters Local 628, the union local that includes drivers, building service employees, and security officers.

"Although he was the company's guy that you had to fight with, he also understood that the employees meant a lot," Laigaie said.

"He could see both sides," said Robert J. Hall, publisher of the newspapers during Mr. Sabatino's tenure. "He was really a very good person. Very well liked."

Born in Ravenna, Ohio, Mr. Sabatino was a 1967 graduate of the University of Colorado.

Besides his wife, Karen Birdsong Sabatino, with whom he resided, he is survived by three daughters, Angela Thompson and Nicole Gemmer, both of Danville, Calif., and Mia DeGroot of San Diego, Calif.; and four grandchildren.

There was a Funeral Mass on Saturday at Our Lady of the Gulf in Gulf Shores, Ala. Memorial contributions can be sent to the CU Foundation-Bill Sabatino Memorial Fund, P.O. Box 17128, Denver, Colo. 80217.