R.I.P.: Radio/TV News Anchor Kelley Mitchell Was 58

Kelley Mitchell (Herald photo)

Radio/TV news anchor Kelley Mitchell died on Sunday night at home with her husband by her side.

She was 58, accordingto The Miami Herald.

Mitchell and her husband, Kirk Wade, chief photographer for WSVN, were together in their Miami Shores home when they exchanged glances and Mitchell suddenly collapsed.

“The one blessing is that I was home with her,” he said, fighting tears. “Over the years Kelley was so sick so many times and she was such a warrior. She fought through breast cancer, she fought through pneumonia and other illnesses and was in and out of the hospital so many times. … She won so many large battles. She always had the will to survive and sometimes, maybe sometimes, your body says, ‘You’re done.’ ”

In 2002, Mitchell was diagnosed with breast cancer. She disclosed her illness — with a classic Mitchell-ism — in a memo to WPLG colleagues: “I know, right now you're saying, ‘Gee, I didn't even know she HAD breasts.’ She spoke at breast cancer events, her feisty manner ever on display.

Mitchell, an Oklahoma City native and a graduate of University of Oklahoma’s journalism school, didn’t want to be simply a “news reader.” As the daughter of a teacher, she had an unquenchable thirst for knowledge, WSVN anchor mate Rick Sanchez recalled. “She wanted to engage and understand the market.”

She also worked well with fresh talent just coming onto the scene, or with writers at the Herald who were new to recording features for radio partner WLRN 91.3 FM. Mitchell worked at WLRN from 2011 to early 2015 doing the afternoon newscasts. She also reported on Latin American news for Nuestra Tele Noticias 24 Horas-NTN24. Most recently, Mitchell filled in on WIOD 610 AM.