Tuts Kilcourse, former Gloucester City mayor, dies at 92

Thomas “Tuts” Kilcourse, a fixture in Gloucester City politics for decades, died on September 21.  He was 92.

Kilcourse was part of the first Democratic majority on the Gloucester City Council when he won his first election in 1965.

With the election of three Democrats

He was re-elected in 1968, the same year voters approved a new city charter that reduced the number of council seats in each ward from three to two and extending the term of the mayor from two years to four.

Kilcourse resigned from the council in 1971 to become City Clerk following the retirement of Edward Ronan, who had spent nearly two decades in the post.  Vincent Reed was appointed to replace Kilcourse on the council.

In 1994, Kilcourse returned to elected office when he was appointed to a council seat.  He was elected that year to a full term on a ticket with future Camden County Sheriff Chuck Billingham, who ousted Republican Mayor Walter Jost, Jr.

He was re-elected in 1997, this time running on a ticket with mayoral candidate Robert Gorman, who beat back Jost’s comeback bid. He was re-elected in 2000.

Kilcourse ran for Mayor in 2004 and defeated Jost by a 56%-44% margin.  He served one term.

He served in the U.S. Army from 1945 to 1946 and was long involved in local affairs

A widower, Kilcourse his survived by his nieces and nephews.

A viewing will be held on Friday, September 27 from 9:45 to 11:45 AM at St. Mary’s R.C. Church in Gloucester City, followed by a Mass at noon.  He will be buried with U.S. Army military honors .