Doris May Lenz, a Wyncote resident and former broadcast television pioneer, passed away on Sunday, January 19. She was 101.

Mrs. Lenz “was a pacesetter who helped define and expand the role of public affairs and the role of women in television,” her obituary said. She joined WPHL-TV Philadelphia as Public Affairs Director in 1970 and served as co-host of the ” Market Show” with Channel 29 and with KYW Radio during her youth on “Once Upon A Time,” a weekly children’s educational program.

For her career, Mrs. Lenz received two Emmy’s in 1987-1988 and was honored by the National Commission for Working Women, the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, Women in Communications, Women in Transition, and American Women in Radio and Television.

On May 19, 1993, Lenz was honored as “The Person of the Year” by the Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia. In 1999, she was inducted into its Hall of Fame.

On March 6, 1973, Lenz visited Cheltenham High School to talk about the world of television. Her daughter, Lisa Anne Lenz, graduated from Cheltenham High in 1972.

The picture above is from the 1973 Cheltenham High “El Delator” yearbook. Lenz, shown in the foreground, had just finished talking baseball with 1973 graduate cousins Ted and Todd Berk in the background.

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