Gene Friedman

Gene Friedman, Wyomissing, veteran columnist and reporter, died February 26th in Mifflin Center, Shillington from natural causes after a long illness.

Friedman was antique columnist for the Reading Eagle and former Reading Times for 20 years. He also worked for national antique trade and Internet publications, plus serving as antique consultant.

A native of Reading, Friedman was husband of the former Shirley Riebman and son of the late Emanuel B. and Pauline (Greenstein) Friedman.

Friedman wrote the antique column "The Collector" for the Eagle and former Reading Times from 1992 to 2010. He was also correspondent for Antique Week and Antique Trader, national publications, plus Internet publications Toy Collector Magazine and Style Century Magazine.

In earlier years, Friedman was a sports correspondent for the Philadelphia Inquirer, a correspondent for the Legal Intelligencer, and Variety weekly show paper, and a public relations consultant for St. Joseph's Hospital and Albright College.

He was a 1946 graduate of the former Mt. Penn High School and a 1950 graduate of Albright College with a B.S. in Economics.

Friedman was a Reading Times staff writer and columnist Reporter at Large from 1951 to 1977, where he won second place in the Keystone Awards for a column. Friedman covered federal, state and county courts and politics. He also attended a Columbia University course on investigating reporting. While in college, Friedman was Albrightian sports editor and reporter.

During his career with the Reading Times, working out of the courthouse, Friedman wrote major front page stories on the Presidential Crime Commission on Wincanton, a banner headline on the first ever interview with alleged rackets kingpin Abe Minker, top court cases including the Redline murder case that went to the U.S. Supreme Court and many murder cases and trials, including the Dreamland Park case, before going to Washington in 1977.

Another major interview was with California Gov. Ronald Reagan, who campaigned for Richard Nixon. He was also the lone staff reporter assigned to write the retirement of Times managing editor Gordon Williams.

Early in his career, he wrote sports part-time for the Times, including covering Lenny Moore, Reading High football great, who went on to Penn State and the Baltimore Colts.

Friedman was named staff director for Inter-American Affairs of the House Foreign Affairs Committee from 1977 to 1981. He had the opportunity to travel in 17 countries, including five countries in seven days, meeting presidents and top officials, including visits to embassy and State Department affairs. He remained in the Washington area as a consultant for several years. He worked as a technical editor and in public relations for the former American Electronics Laboratories for three years before joining Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC) as a technical editor/and public relations staffer and as documentation manager for its Special Projects Division. He retired from CSC in 1992 when he returned to the Reading area to start his antique columnist/consultant career.

He was a past first vice president, secretary and assistant secretary board of trustees, plus executive committee of Temple Oheb Sholom, Wyomissing; several times president and board member of the Stone Hill Homeowners Assn. from 1994, retiring in 2011 and former Crestwood Pool Assn. board member. Friedman worked on fundraising projects for the Berks County Historical Society and participated in antique appraisal days for various Berks libraries, churches and civic groups.

Friedman was an avid Phillies and Eagles fan.

Friedman is survived by two daughters, Ellen A. Friedman, Newark, DE, and Carol D. Friedman-Cooper, Olney, MD, and twin grandsons, Benjamin and Aaron Cooper.

Funeral service will be held Tuesday at 10 a.m. in Temple Oheb Sholom, Wyomissing. Interment will follow in Mt. Sinai Cemetery, Shillington.

Contributions in Friedman's memory can be made to Temple Oheb Sholom, Wyomissing, 555 Warwick Drive, Wyomissing, PA 19610.

Henninger Funeral Home, Inc., is in charge of arrangements.

www.henningerfuneralhome.com