John-Edwin M. Loftus, a former Northeast Times reporter, died on Thursday night after a 6½-year battle with glioblastoma. He was 70.
Loftus was diagnosed in March 2015 with glioblastoma, an aggressive brain cancer, forcing him to retire from an industry he loved. He far exceeded the most optimistic life expectancy.
Loftus was born in Philadelphia in 1951 and resided in Kensington, Logan and South Philadelphia. He lived briefly in Hopewell, New Jersey, and in Guilderland, New York. He moved to Hatboro in 1982.
In crafting his obituary, Loftus described himself as a “newspaperman.”
He was a journalist for more than three decades, working at newspapers in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York. He worked at the Northeast Times from 2009-15.
Among the other papers that employed him were the Philadelphia Daily News, the Trenton Times, the Times Union of Albany, New York, the Home News Tribune of East Brunswick, New Jersey, and the South Philadelphia Review.
He was a 1983 graduate of Temple University. While in college, he had worked as a Yellow Cab driver.
His parents, Norman T. and Elisabeth T. Bogschutz Loftus, are deceased. He is survived by his beloved wife, Deborah Susan Priante Loftus, of Hatboro.
There will be no service.
Cremation is under the direction of the Schneider Funeral Home, Hatboro. Go to www.schneiderfuneralhome.net to post remembrances. ••
