Calling her "our poet laureate," WRC-TV Washington paid tribute to former anchor/reporter Wendy Rieger, who died of cancer Saturday (April 17). She was 65.
"For more than 30 years, NBC4 Washington viewers benefited from her unique style that blended humor, intelligence and compassion, and we are all better for knowing her," the station said in a statement Saturday. "Wendy was diagnosed with brain cancer almost a year ago. She had surgery and treatment, then retired in December with an intent to savor the rest of her life and start a new chapter. Her cancer returned aggressively several weeks ago, and she died this morning."
Rieger spent more than three decades at the station after a career in radio including noncommercial WAMU and WTOP. She teamed up on the weekday 5 p.m. anchor desk with Susan Kidd and subsequently Jim Handly and was on the leading edge of environmental journalism with her ongoing series, Going Green.
According to The Washington Post, Rieger also worked as a weekend reporter at CNN in Washington in the late 1980s before joining WRC as a street reporter then weekend anchor.
At her retirement in 2021, LGBTQ periodical The Washington Blade said Rieger had championed the LGBTQ community throughout her career, including participating in AIDS rides and emceeing several events.
Survivors include her husband, former WRC-TV photographer Dan Buckley. ■
