LYNCHBURG, Va. (WSET) — Tonight we are celebrating the life of Mark Spain even as we grieve his sudden death after a short battle with pancreatic cancer.
But we know we are not alone in mourning–you, the community, are too.
For nearly a decade you have welcomed him into your home and felt like he was family.
Mark also saw those in this city as family. Anyone familiar with his Facebook page remembers how often he started the day with a post starting with “Hi sunshines.”
He truly loved his work, his family, and his community. He had a special spark and could deliver the news in a way that connected with you. After his death, we’ve heard time and again from thousands of people how much the community appreciated him, but everyone knew that already. The community trusted him and looked up to him up until his passing.
He was never afraid to ask the tough questions to get to the bottom of his stories here at ABC13. Fighting for you was something he strongly believed in and wanted to do. He interviewed important leaders in the community, from Liberty University’s president, Dondi Costin, to Lynchburg Police Chief Ryan Zuidema, to politicians ranging from congressmen, governors and more.
Mark dug deep into important issues for Virginians. Things like capital punishment, vaccines, mask mandates during the pandemic, gun laws–there was no difficult subject he was afraid to face if it meant fighting for a story that needed to be told.
Mark Spain, beloved ABC13 anchor and community figure, dies after battle with cancer
And he didn’t just sit behind the anchor desk to do his job, either. He went out into the community to see what was happening and get involved hands-on with his work. He went out past curfew in Lynchburg to see what was going on. He helped cover a tornado in Bedford County in the field. He went to the National D-Day Memorial and was a part of history there at its 75th anniversary.
But if you knew Mark, you knew that he didn’t just use his journalism skills and position to fill out his job description. He also used his platform to positively impact the community. He helped raise $75,000 for Jubilee’s new media center just this summer. He helped mentor a young man through ABC13’s partnership with Big Brothers, Big Sisters. He partnered with the Salvation Army to ring the bell and raise money for that organization. He even took on the task of growing a mustache for Mustaches for Kids.
What you saw on TV was who Mark was as a person, and he loved to have fun. He spoke often of his love for music, and sometimes he combined his playfulness with that love of music…
But what he loved the most was his family: his daughters Jenna and Lindsey, his son Max, and his wife, Lynita. He always put his family first, even with a job that kept him at the anchor desk until 11:30 at night.
When he sat behind that desk three weeks ago, we didn’t know it would be for the last time. He delivered the news as he always did: as a true professional.
On his Facebook profile, Mark’s bio section reads “The goal is to always be a little better at everything than I was the day before.”
Over his ten years with ABC13, he did just that, but the truth is that he made the lives of all of us a little better every day as well. If you ever spoke to him and asked how he was doing, his answer was always the same: “I’m blessed.”
But what we all know is that we were the ones blessed to know him.