Joseph Winkler, 93, TV ad executive

Joseph C. Winkler, 93, formerly of Drexel Hill, a retired television advertising executive, died of kidney failure Feb. 15 at Rose Tree Place in Media.

Mr. Winkler grew up in Southern California and earned a bachelor's degree in history from the University of California, Los Angeles. He served in the Royal Air Force in England before the United States entered World War II. After Pearl Harbor, he joined the U.S. Coast Guard.

In 1945, while still in the service, he married debutante Pauline Willing in Long Beach, Calif. After his discharge, he worked in his father's clothing stores in California and played drums for a society swing band he organized. He got to know several local radio personalities and went to work in the broadcasting industry.

"Joe was fascinated with the power of the medium," said Michael Gillespie, a longtime friend who heads an advertising agency. "He had a natural instinct about people that helped him convince advertisers to try radio," Gillespie said.

Mr. Winkler was recruited by CBS Radio in New York, where he was national director for spot advertising. In the late 1950s, he moved to the Philadelphia area to sell advertising for Triangle Broadcasting's radio division. He also became sales manager for Triangle-owned WFIL-TV and was cohost of a television program, Strictly for the Ladies. In the 1960s, he joined WPHL-TV, Channel 17. He retired from WPHL in 1999 as senior account executive. He was active in the Philadelphia Broadcast Pioneers and several professional organizations.

A champion cross-country runner in his youth, Mr. Gillespie coached youth basketball teams when his sons were growing up in Delaware County. He also enjoyed high school football.

He collected World War II and Civil War memorabilia and Art Deco objects, and supplied props for movies shot in the Philadelphia area. For more than 30 years, until last August, he was a dealer at the Ardmart Antiques Mall in Drexel Hill.

Mr. Winkler, who had battled alcoholism, helped many people cope with addictions and what he called "the beauty of recovery," Gillespie said.

His first wife died in 1997. In 2002, he married Eleanor Hamilton. She died in 2005.

Mr. Winkler is survived by daughters Paula Wisdo and Patricia Wiernicki; sons William and J. Clifford; a stepson, Lewis Hamilton; seven grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren.

A memorial gathering will be from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. today at Springfield Country Club, 400 W. Sproul Rd., Springfield, Delaware County.