Mr Viral
In Memoriam: Everyone We Lost in 2024
Family, friends and viewers are saying goodbye to Virginia news anchor Mark Spain.
Just three weeks after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, the ABC-affiliated WSET anchor died Dec. 18, according to his widow, Lynita Spain. He was 64.
“It is with a heavy heart that I share the passing of my loving husband Mark,” she wrote in a post on her late husband’s Facebook page Dec. 19. “Our family along with the city of Lynchburg lost a man of hope, someone who loves his city and stood for equality, treating others with respect and kindness. He was a husband, father, brother, friend and a positive light in the community.”
Lynita, who described the journalist as her “first true love,” added that he “stayed positive throughout” his short battle with the disease.
“We have comfort in knowing he is no longer suffering,” she continued. “It was not easy watching him fight for his life and battle this disease, but he was not alone, and neither were we.”
Mark began his career in journalism at just 9 years old when he worked as a paperboy for the Cleveland Press, and later majored in communications at Cleveland State University, according to WSET. From there, he worked in cities including Fort Wayne, Erie, Indianapolis and Cleveland, per the outlet.
Facebook/Mark Spain
In 2000, the broadcaster joined First Coast News in Jacksonville, Fla., where he remained for 14 years, according to the station. He became lead anchor at WSET in 2015, earning numerous accolades including Best News Anchor from the Association Press of the Virginias in 2018 and 2019.
On top of his work on-air, Mark was also active in his community. In a tribute shared by WSET, the station highlighted his successful efforts to help raise $75,000 for a local media center just this summer, as well as partnerships with the Salvation Army, Mustaches for Kids and Big Brothers, Big Sisters.
Mark is survived by his wife and their three children. In her Dec. 19 post, Lynita described the road ahead as “new and challenging,” but added, “God is walking along side us, guiding and protecting us.”
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