Legendary KTVU anchor Dennis Richmond, the quintessential newsman of four decades – an anchor still most associated with Channel 2 long after his retirement, died Wednesday at the age of 81.
Friends told KTVU that Richmond died in Grass Valley, Calif., with his wife, Deborah, at his side. She was holding his hand until the end, friends said. Richmond was known by viewers and coworkers alike as the most reliable voice during times of crisis and confusion, and the unshakable calm in the center of a storm. He was most visually recognizable by his smart suits and thick mustache.
Richmond, one of the nation’s first Black anchors of a major market TV newscast, joined KTVU as a clerk and rose to the rank of anchor in 1976, a job he held until 2008, when he retired five days before he turned 65.
