Longtime KYW Newsradio anchor and reporter Cheryl Elias dies at 77

PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Cheryl Elias, a pioneering radio journalist and longtime anchor and reporter at KYW Newsradio, has died. She was 77.

The cause, according to her son, was complications from breast cancer.

Elias was a beloved and respected radio news voice in Philadelphia, first on WCAU in the 1970s and then on KYW, starting in 1996.

Fittingly, Elias was often heard before she was seen. Her jangly bangles heralded the force about to enter the newsroom.

“Hi, honey,” she would say, referring collectively to her co-workers.

“How are you, Cheryl Baby?” we’d reply.

“I’m alive, honey,” went the familiar refrain. “I’m alive.”

Impermanence, as she told us Buddhists believe, is the only certainty.

Elias drew inspiration from spirituality but held language sacred. The romantic lyricism of her favorite French informed her storytelling. She would not abide weak or wasted words in her scripts. Her sentences were agile and elegant. They stuck the landing without any gymnastics.

“When it comes to talent on the radio, Cheryl was really second to none,” said Joe Piscopo, the “Saturday Night Live” alumnus, radio host, and friend of Elias. “She laid a foundation in news radio in Philadelphia, and you could really consider her a legend in that regard. She was friendly, she was so informative, and she did it with a power and strength as a woman.”

Elias would say she put the “broad” in broadcasting on network and major-market radio — including RKO, WCBS, WNBC and WTOP in New York City and Washington, D.C. But it was in Philadelphia where the proud Chestnut Hill College grad proved “fearless,” as Larry Kane, KYW special contributor and dean of Philly TV news anchors, tells it.

“She had a lot of swagger and high spirits,” Kane said. “Cheryl set the pace for aggressive journalism in Philadelphia. That spirit was alive throughout her career.”

Elias won honors for her journalism, including the prestigious Sandy Starobin Award from the Pennsylvania Associated Press for enterprise reporting.

“It was in her blood,” Kane said. “This tremendous drive for news coverage and to communicate with people.”

Young journalists coveted her ability, craved her praise, and thrived under her mentorship.

In 2016, Elias retired from KYW and wagoned west to Arizona to be close to her son and granddaughter. She loved being “Nana” above all else.

“Cheryl was one of the classiest people I’ve ever met,” said Piscopo. “She was an iconic voice, but even more importantly, a beautiful, beautiful person.”