R.I.P.: Arch Deal, Longtime Tampa News Anchor, Broadcaster

In his first run-in with death 45 years ago, Arch Deal remembers spinning toward the ground at 120 mph, his useless parachutes trailing behind him, wondering how much it would hurt when he finally hit.

Arch Deal  - 2011

Friends and emergency responders launched a search for a body in the area around Cypress Gardens in Winter Haven, now part of Legoland. Instead, they found Mr. Deal alive. In fact, he told a Tampa Tribune reporter years later, he was cracking jokes to cheer up a worried ambulance crew.  Deal suffered a broken pelvis, broken neck and cracked ribs, but three months later, he was back at work.

It was a more down-to-earth accident that finally claimed his life Friday.

Eating dinner Friday night, Deal choked on a piece of filet mignon, said his fiancé, Ruby Drash, who was with him. They tried the Heimlich maneuver with no success.

He was 88, reports The Tampa Bay Times.

Deal came to the Tampa Bay area from his home state of North Carolina in the 1950s. He first worked for WTVT, Ch. 13 but gained a big following as news anchor at WFLA, Ch. 8, where he worked almost 20 years.

"He was the ultimate anchor,” said Jack Jarvis, who worked with Mr. Deal directing news, weather and sports from the WFLA control room. Deal had no ego, Jarvis said, and was always professional and dependable.

After his WFLA career, Deal worked for a couple years at WTSP, Ch. 10, then moved to radio in the 1980s, working as a traffic reporter. He was also part of the Q Morning Zoo on WRBQ 104.7 FM. Later, in semi-retirement, he recorded voice-overs from a home studio.