Star TV News Anchor Ann Conway Passes Away, Her Colleagues Pay Tribute
Wednesday, December 04, 2019
Former WLNE and WPRI anchor Ann Conway has passed away.
She was a star reporter and anchor during the golden days of local news in Rhode Island, when the average Rhode Islander could name the stars at each station.
Conway was a leader on the team that featured anchorman Dave Layman, meteorologist John Ghiorse, and Ken Bell at WLNE.
“Ann and I co-anchored the 6 and 11 pm newscasts at WLNE-TV when I joined the station in 1983. We had a terrific on-air and off-air friendship," said Layman. "And it said something special about her because at various times I was also acting news director. She was always a pro about that. The same was true for Ken Bell and John Ghiorse. We were all good friends and as corny as it may sound, we were a loving team."
GoLocal’s meteorologist Ghiorse said, “I am so saddened to hear of Ann's passing. I had the immense pleasure of working with her for several years on Channel 6. She was the consummate professional journalist -- hard-working, fair and honest. But she was much more -- a loyal friend, teammate and co-worker...warm, funny and very intelligent. I miss the great times we had together both on-air and off. I mourn her passing and extend my deepest sympathies to her family.”
“I admired Ann on so many levels. She was a good person; brave; persistent and had a great sense of humor. Ann’s good character was reflected in her daily journalism. Regardless of any beliefs she might have held, her stories were balanced and she always found the human angle,” said Layman.
John Methia, the longtime producer of ABC News who today is head of production for Sociable, tells GoLocal, “Ann was a wonderfully sweet woman and an amazing news person. She was an anchor with an iconic team. She worked the nightside in a day when turning a package between anchoring duties was the norm.”
“Ann did it all in perfect balance while raising what was then her young son Ben. Not an easy task when working 'nightside.' I last saw her at what ended up being a mini-reunion of sorts. It was Ken Bell's going away gathering. She looked well and said she was doing well in that sweet way that was Ann Conway,” added Methia.
“Ann was a wonderful person to work with. She was more than a coworker, she was a good friend. Ann was always encouraging to me and everyone else in the newsroom. My greatest memory of Ann is that she was always authentic. In a business that can be very superficial, Ann was always very down to earth and a great team player. She leaves a tremendous legacy at ABC6,” said Bell.
Brave
Conway was one of Rhode Island’s first female anchors.
"She was brave, too. She advocated for stories about women and minorities. In so doing, she sacrificed her own privacy at times. Our viewers didn’t know that Ann was adopted as a baby. In the 70s and 80s, adoption agencies didn’t disclose any details of the birth or the identity of the birth mother. Ann’s own family remained secretive about her adoption. Ann respected that. But when they passed away, Ann set out to find her birth mother," Layman.
"As I recall, it wasn’t so much about her own curiosity but the importance of knowing about family medical history that could affect her and the children she would have. Amazingly, through her persistence, she located her birth mother who lived just 30 miles away. She met her and developed an ongoing relationship with her mother. She chronicled all of this in an adoption series," said Layman. "And her birth mother was grateful and proud of the daughter she gave up decades earlier."
Layman told GoLocal, "When Ann became pregnant with her first child, Ben, she did stories about the journey she was taking in becoming a mom. She used her pregnancy to help other soon-to-be-moms to have healthy pregnancies and healthy babies. It was Ann’s way. Helping others. In doing those stories, Ann Conway changed. She changed her diet completely, ate healthy, lost weight, and influenced others in the newsroom to become healthier. She set a great example that I still remember to this day."
"Ann also had a self-deprecating sense of humor, never taking herself seriously. In the rush to do so many things, she could be a little scattered and was the first to laugh about it. The audience never saw it because she always managed to pull it off…with humor, decency and grace. There was so much to Ann Conway and we were blessed to work with her and laugh with her all those great years, added Layman.
Her passing was first reported by her former colleague Tara Granahan of WPRO AM.
