Douglas Harold Bedell was born on Aug. 11, 1935, in Orange, New Jersey, as the oldest son of Harold and Gladys Bedell. He graduated from Allegheny College, where he played saxophone in the jazz band and met Dawn Taft, who would become his wife.
After college, he served in the Army at Ft. Dix, New Jersey, at the end of the Korean War. He and Dawn were married during his two years of active duty on June 28, 1958.
He honed his journalism skills in the army and became a police beat reporter at The Philadelphia Bulletin. During a brief stint working for the Wall Street Journal, he wrote editorials exposing the rampant union corruption in the city government at the time, and eventually came back to The Bulletin on the editorial page staff.
During the late 70s, Doug saw that The Bulletin, as an evening newspaper, was losing market share to its morning rival, The Inquirer, and began looking for a career change.
In the summer of 1979, he was hired by Phil Fine, his former boss at The Bulletin, to join General Public Utilities as the first on-site Public Relations Director. His job was to effectively communicate to an anxious public the clean-up progress at the Three Mile Island Unit 2 reactor following the historic accident there.
He retired in 1992 and worked for FEMA until Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans in 2005. He spent his last years living with Dawn at Cornwall Manor.
He is survived by Dawn Bedell, his wife of 68 years; and their three sons, David, Bob, and Bruce Bedell.
Snyder Bean Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements. Online condolences can be made at www.snyderbeanfuneralhome.com.
