Dan Rather Tragically Loses His Wife Jean After 67 Years Of Marriage

Jean Rather, beloved TV anchor Dan Rather's wife, has died at the age of 89. A November 26 Facebook post courtesy of Dan's loved ones announced that, after being married for almost 67 years, the former CBS anchor has said goodbye to his wife. The post noted that cancer was Jean's cause of death and included an obituary that was written by her family.

The post began, "From friends of Dan, Today is the saddest of days for Dan and the extended Rather family. Jean Rather, Dan's wife, passed away at their home in Austin, Texas, early this morning. She had been on hospice care for some time, but the news still comes as a shock for those of us who knew and loved her. Please keep the Rathers in your thoughts. Jean lived a full life as an incredible wife, mother, friend, and artist — and a true Texan." It's difficult to imagine how painful a loss like this must be for Dan after spending so much of his life with Jean. Still, it is clear that through it all, there was no shortage of love between the pair, and there are many memories that Dan will carry with him.

Dan and Jean Rather clearly shared a wonderful life. The pair met while working together at a radio station in Texas. This sparked both a long marriage and a long journalism career for Dan. He joined CBS in 1981 and remained with the network until 2005. Ultimately, he couldn't hide his questionable past; he left due to concerns surrounding his reporting about former President George W. Bush's military record. Even so, he still had an undeniably successful career, and consequently, the legendary journalist is worth a lot of money: he has a net worth of $70 million, per The Richest. It's clear, though, that Dan was also rich in something that was far more important to him: a loving family and unwavering support from Jean. During a promotional interview for the Netflix documentary, "Rather," Dan said, "In the end, whatever remains of one's life — family, friends — those are going to be the things for which you're remembered," per AP News.

In a conversation with People, Dan gave Jean credit for their long-lasting marriage. "The first year I was with CBS News, I was home 41 days out of the year ... Very hard to hold a marriage and a family together then." Yet, he recalled Jean saying, "Whatever it takes, we're going to make it work." In addition to the love they had for each other, the couple also had two children together, as well as two grandchildren.