48-year News4 Washington DC Anchor/Reporter Jim Vance Dies at 75

Story/Photo by NBC4

For 48 years at NBC4, Jim Vance’s smooth voice and calm presence made viewers feel that, no matter how bad the news was, it would be OK.

Vance died July 22 at age 75 after a brief battle with cancer.

Before becoming a journalist, Vance was a teacher in his hometown of Philadelphia. He started reporting at WRC-TV in Washington DC in 1969. He was an only child, but Vance always contended he never knew that. His grandparents had 16 kids, so there were always young people around Vance’s early life.

Vance made a name for himself covering stories all over the world, including Vietnam, El Salvador and South Africa. But he didn’t have to go far for some of his best work: reporting on the people in his beloved adopted home of Washington.

For almost 50 years, Vance told viewers about every big story that occurred in D.C. From the race riots on U Street and in Columbia Heights to the 14th Street Bridge plane crash to Watergate to the attempted assassination of President Ronald Reagan and 9/11, Jim Vance kept the people of the Washington area informed and comforted.

He covered the inaugurations of 12 Presidents and all seven of D.C.’s Mayors. In 1977, Vance was the person the Hanfi Muslims asked to speak to the night they seized three buildings, and he was the first journalist Marion Barry called after he got arrested.

His “Vance’s View” provided a dose of reality that could be refreshing, even for those who disagreed with him.

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http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/News4-Anchor-Jim-Vance-Dies-at-75-436001373.html