Former reporter for WKBN dies in fire

STAFF REPORT

Matt Quinn, 80, a Youngs-town native who began his television broadcast career here, died in a wildfire April 8 in Montague, Texas, where fires have swept through Montague County in north Texas.

Among Quinn’s survivors is a sister, Katherine Hall of Youngstown.

Also killed was his wife, Cathy, 63. A son, Chris, was transported to the burn unit at Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas.

Quinn earned a bachelor’s degree in English from Youngstown State University. He started his broadcast career in radio at WTMJ-AM and in television at WKBN-TV, Channel 27.

He held a number of positions, including writer, reporter, news director in radio and television in Cleveland, Detroit and Buffalo, before joining KYW-TV, Channel 3, in Philadelphia.

At KYW, he was co-host of a live political interview program, “Meetinghouse,” with Jessica Savitch.

Quinn went on to be a Chicago-based network correspondent for ABC News.

In 1980, he joined Channel 8 in Dallas. He was instrumental in getting Channel 8 involved in the story of Jessica McClure, the Midland toddler who was trapped in an abandoned well for more than 58 hours in 1987.

He was best known for his work as an investigative reporter. Quinn covered Ross Perot Jr.’s round-the-world helicopter flight, which is part of the aircraft exhibit at the Smithsonian Institution.

In the late 1980s, Quinn had a stroke but then did a story about surgery on his carotid artery.

He retired from the Dallas station in the early 1990s, and the couple moved to Montague.

The Quinns are survived by three daughters, three sons, eight grandchildren and a great-grandchild.