A Lima area legend has faded into the history books. Hugh Downs, a radio and television institution for more than 60 years, has died at the age of 99.
Downs moved to Lima at an early age and graduated from Shawnee High School in 1938. He attended what was then Bluffton College. In his early years in broadcasting, he was program director at WLOK radio in Lima.
He moved into television in the 1940s for a long and varied career. He was initially the announcer on a late-night talk show, anchored NBC’s "The Today Show", and spent years as the anchor of the ABC's "20/20" news magazine. A statement from his family said Downs passed away Wednesday in Scottsdale, Arizona.
