By Shawn Nowlin
Award-winning WSET news anchor Mark Spain passed away December 18 just three weeks after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.
Spain’s family, colleagues and loyal viewers remember him as one of the most vibrant and passionate professionals that one could meet.
“Our family along with the City of Lynchburg lost a man of hope, someone who stood for equality, treating others with respect and kindness,” wrote his widow, Lynita Spain, in a statement.
Continuing, she added, “He was a husband, father, brother, friend and a positive light in the community. My first true love. He brought so much joy, compassion, love and strength into our lives, and his absence will be deeply felt by all who knew him.”
In a released statement, WSET said, “Mark dug deep into important issues for Virginians. Things like capital punishment, vaccines, mask mandates during the pandemic, gun laws — there was no difficult subject he was afraid to face if it meant fighting for a story that needed to be told.”
An Ohio native, Spain’s loyalty to the Cavaliers, Browns and Indians never wavered at any point in his life.
He attended Cleveland State University, graduating with a degree in Communications. Before joining the Lynchburg-based WSET in 2015, Spain worked at First Coast News in Jacksonville, Fla., for 15 years. He also worked in Cleveland and Indianapolis too.
Over his illustrious career, Spain earned numerous Emmy, AP and Society of Professional Journalism awards, including the 2019 Virginia Associated Press “Best News Anchor.”
Whenever Jeremy Parker ran into Spain in public, he says a smile was always on his face and he didn’t mind having short conversations with strangers. “The ‘it’ factor that people talk about is something that Mark had. I still can’t believe that he is gone. He will certainly be missed,” Parker said.
On Dec. 9, Spain went to Facebook to give an update on his health. “Stage 4 Pancreatic Cancer is something I would have never imagined for myself,” he wrote at the time. “I’ll begin chemo on December 16, and we will see how things go.”
“Our family was there with him from the beginning of the fight to the finish, until his very last breath. He fought hard, he stayed positive throughout the battle and wasn’t afraid,” Lynita said. “We have comfort in knowing he is no longer suffering, it was not easy watching him fight for his life and battle this disease, but he was not alone., and neither were we.”
A GoFundMe that Spain’s family created has raised more than $30,000.
