Jere Sullivan, radio-TV personality, dies at 57

JERE J. SULLIVAN 3d was a nationally known radio personality, but he was also a volunteer firefighter in Wyndmoor, Montgomery County; a city councilman in Plainfield, N.J.; a police offier in Virginia Gardens, Fla.; and a member of the fire police with the Flourtown Fire Department.

In other words, Jere Sullivan had a strong sense of civic reponsibility for whatever community he happened to be living in, and didn't hesitate to pitch in.

Jere, who had worked since the late '60s as a disc jockey, programmer and radio-station manager, mostly in his native Philadelphia, and even had tried his hand at acting, died Tuesday of heart failure. He was 57.

At his death, he was vice president of operations for the national traffic service, Traffic.com/ Navteq, in Wayne, where he continued to work with many of the country's most talented TV and radio news and traffic anchors.

Jere was born in Lancaster and grew up in the Wyndmoor section of Springfield Township, Montomery County. Right after his graduation from Springfield High School in 1969, he went to work as a production staffer on a one-hour morning show called "The World Around Us" at WFIL-TV (now WPVI), Channel 6.

He moved behind the mike as the overnight disc jockey for WIOQ-FM, after which he moved to WCAU-FM. He spent most of the '70s as the midday host of "Fascinatin' Rhythm," playing mostly disco music and using the name C. Jonathan Morgan.

He left the city to become music director and evening host at NBC's WYNY, in New York City. After several years, he moved to Miami, where he worked in programming for a number of stations as well as running the radio network operations for the Miami Dolphins and the University of Miami Hurricanes.

In 1988, Jere returned to Philadelphia as program manager for WSNI-FM and WPGR-AM. He worked with a number of prominent Philadelphia-based broadcasting personalities such as Jerry Blavat, Don Cannon and Hy Lit.

Along the way, Jere also programmed or consulted for radio stations WCMC, in Wildwood, N.J.; WERA, in Plainfield, N.J.; WTTM, in Trenton; KJQY, in San Diego; and served as vice president and general manager of the talk station WBDN, in Tampa, Fla.

He also produced television programs in Philadelphia and Miami, and acted in two movies and three episodes of "Miami Vice."

He is survived by a daughter, Katie Sullivan-Gilbert; two sisters, Susan Melrath and Julie Wrigley; two brothers, Thomas M. and Brian Sullivan; his father, Jere J. Sullivan Jr. and former wife, Gretchen Schmidt.

Services: Were Saturday. Contributions may be made to the Abington Heart Clinic, Abington Memorial Hospital, 1200 Old York Rd., Abington PA 19001. *