Wendy Rieger

Rieger was born on April 18, 1956, in Norfolk, Virginia, to her father, an airline pilot, and her mother, an English teacher and polygraph examiner. Her parents divorced when she was 8 years old. Career in Public Radio and CNN (1970s-1988) As a freshman at American University, she worked at WAMU, the university radio station. Her first job in journalistic career was as a newsreader for a radio station based in Tidewater. Additionally, Rieger worked for CNN's Washington Bureau during the crack cocaine epidemic. She retired from WRC-TV in December 2021, after having worked there for 33 years. ==Health and Death==

In October 2020, Rieger underwent open-heart surgery to repair a faulty mitral valve. In April 2021, she began feeling unwell, and was forced to miss the funeral of former colleague Joe Krebs. A month later she was diagnosed with glioblastoma, a terminal form of brain cancer. Rieger had surgery to remove most of the tumor later that year. On April 16, 2022, Rieger died in a hospice facility due to complications from the tumor just two days before her 66th birthday. Various local leaders responded to news of Rieger's death. Washington D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser described Rieger as "one of DC's most beloved anchors." Then-Maryland Governor Larry Hogan called Rieger "one-of-a-kind." Following news of her death, her name trended nationally on Twitter. ==Personal life==

Rieger's first marriage was in the 1990s to CNN executive Sol Levine. It ended in divorce. She married again in 2021 with a former NBC4 photographer, Dan Buckley. Throughout her career, Rieger had been an active LGBTQ-rights activist. She had worked both with SMYAL (Supporting and Mentoring Youth Activists and Leaders) and the Gay Men's Chorus of Washington D.C. In 2015, she was named the Best Local Anchor for Washington Blade's Best of Gay issue, for which she participated in a photoshoot with a drag queen. == Legacy ==

Rieger's style of delivering news was widely appreciated across the DC area. The Washington Post described her delivery style of news as "self-effacing, opinionated and humorous by turns." WTOP wrote that "Rieger was known for employing her quick wit, as well as capturing the hearts and attention of viewers." Following her death, Dan Buckley established the Wendy Rieger Memorial Scholarship Fund at American University in her honor. The endowed scholarship is meant to benefit students studying journalism at American University's School of Communication and to "allow students who might not have been able to study journalism avenues to follow their passions." ==References==