Anchor Mary Baer and meteorologist John Gaughan, both of WJXT Jacksonville, will both retire May 31. Baer arrived at WJXT in 1992 and anchors News4JAX with Tom Wills weeknights. Gaughan also arrived in 1992 as weekend meteorologist.
An independent station, WJXT is part of Graham Media Group.
“The impact John and Mary have left on this community for the last three decades has been immeasurable,” VP and general manager Terri Cope Walton said. “They have been part of the fabric of North Florida and South Georgia and helped to lay the foundation for excellence and commitment to community that The Local Station is committed to providing. They will truly be missed by the entire News4JAX family.”
Baer came to Jacksonville after a stint as anchor and reporter for WSYX Columbus, Ohio. “After 30 years, anchoring and reporting the news on Channel 4, I am so grateful for the chance to live out a dream: telling the stories of so many in our community and beyond,” she said. “Thank you to all of you who welcomed me into your home each night, and those who allowed me the honor of sharing your stories. It's been a privilege. I am eager to begin a new chapter of my life, spending more time with my husband and our family, traveling, riding my horse, and working with the therapeutic riding program I helped start on our farm. You could say, I'll be riding off into the sunset!”
While at the University of Maryland, Gaughan was a weather graphics producer at WRC Washington. He went on to be chief meteorologist at WOLO Columbia, South Carolina, and later worked as WFTV Orlando. He joined the WJXT weather team in late 1992.
“I’m so thankful for a 40-year career in broadcast meteorology, and thirty plus years at one of the great local television stations of all time, the Graham Media Group-owned station, WJXT-TV,” said Gaughan. “I was so fortunate to work in the Great State of Florida, and in the Bold City of Jacksonville. Laurie, my wife of 37 years, and I raised two amazing daughters here.”
WJXT went independent in 2002 after a run as a CBS affiliate.
