On Wednesday, November 20, WWAY 3 announced that longtime journalist Donna Gregory of North Carolina had died in April after being diagnosed with Stage 4 lung cancer.
The network released a statement saying, “We share the heartbreaking news of the loss of our beloved veteran news anchor, Donna Gregory, with deep sorrow.” The publication claims that she passed away the previous day “surrounded by her loved ones.”
Gregory told the audience about her experience with cancer. After undergoing a biopsy and “months of trying to determine what was causing recurring coughing, shortness of breath, fatigue, and weight loss,” she revealed her cancer diagnosis in “a special message” posted on WWAY 3 in April.
“In order to adhere to the doctors’ treatment plan, I will be off the air for a while. “There is a wind of beauty in all of this,” she said, praising her “Angels disguised as friends” and family. “My goal is to get stronger and better every day, and prayers always help,” she said.
According to the radio station WWAY 3, she “confronted her illness with grace and determination, undergoing immunotherapy and chemotherapy while remaining a beacon of hope and inspiration.”
She mentored aspiring journalists and made many friends in the newsroom during her decades-long tenure. She briefly took Randy Aldridge’s place as anchor at WWAY 3 in 2019 after he was diagnosed with cancer. Later, her position became permanent.
A tribute to her legacy will be held at a later time, WWAY 3 stated, adding that “words alone cannot fill the void left by her death.”
We express our deepest sympathies to her family, friends, and everyone whose lives she touched, and we mourn her passing for the time being. WWAY 3 stated, “Donna Gregory will be sorely missed.”
In a Facebook post, Gregory’s children stated that although the community might have acknowledged her for her news coverage, “to her children, she was so much more than the accomplishments listed in her career.”
She was the focal point of any space she visited, bringing comfort and welcome to all. She could turn ordinary occurrences into unforgettable ones by creating a feast out of anything she found in the refrigerator.
Gregory’s children remembered their mother’s greatest qualities, including how she “somehow mastered folding a fitted sheet” and how “her loud whistle at sporting events could rival any cheerleader.”
“We always knew we could count on her to drop everything for us, answer every question, and ground us in her strong faith and deep love for Jesus,” according to people who loved her, in addition to her “unshakable positivity.”
She is survived by her son-in-law Shane, daughter-in-law Amanda, grandchildren Hayes and Coley, and children Sam, Callan, Avery, and Everett.
