Dan Rather’s wife was 89 years old

Jean Rather, wife of the legendary evening news host Dan Rather, died of cancer at the age of 89.

Friends of the Rathers announced her death on her husband’s Facebook page On Tuesday evening, he wrote: “She has been in hospice for some time, but the news still comes as a shock to those of us who knew and loved her.”

USA TODAY has reached out to Rather for further comment.

Born in Smithville, Texas, Jean I met Dan Rather while working at a radio station in Houston. They married in 1957, crisscrossing the country before returning to Jean’s native Texas in 2021.

“Jean was a steadfast advisor and a rock of true Texas grit through every storm,” reads an obituary posted on Rather’s Facebook page. “She was also the type of wife who could meet presidents, kings and queens, draft dodgers, criminals and corporate suits every day with equal ease and a stunning smile.”

Jean Rather, who was described in the obituary as a loving mother and steadfast partner, was also an accomplished artist. For eight years she was a member of the painter and vice-chair of the New York City Art Commission, and thanks to traveling around the world and admiring great works of art, she developed a distinctive contemporary style.

“The Rathers’ travels around the world gave Jean a perspective and understanding she had never dreamed of, and it sometimes reminded her of Cinderella at the ball,” the obituary reads. “She never forgot where she came from, never lost her Texas roots, and never wavered in her unwavering independence and endless creativity.”

She also served on the boards of numerous nonprofit organizations, including the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, UT Press, and the Harry Ransom Center.

She survived by her husband Dantheir son Danjack and family in New York and their daughter Robin and family in Austin.

Dan Rather, 93, spent decades in CBSreplacing Walter Cronkite as host of the evening news – the last voice the nation heard before going to sleep. Reporting news about the killings and war, with a calm and honest reporting style, became Rather’s legacy.

In later years, as the news media fragmented and the Trump era created distrust of the mainstream media, Rather became a voice of stability and truth in journalism.