Legendary ABC News Anchor Tom Jarriel Dead at 89

Former ABC correspondent and anchor Tom Jarriel has died.

Jarriel’s death at the age of 89 was announced Thursday by his family, according to ABC.

Jarriel was born in Georgia, grew up in Shreveport, Louisiana, and began his career with KPRC in Houston in 1958.

Jarriel joined ABC in 1965. In 1968, he covered the assassination of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Tom Jarriel (1934-2024)
The great ABC News journalist has died. Back when television newsmen were classy guys who gave you the news and only the news. RIP. pic.twitter.com/KoXdrZneag

— TonyWendice (@tonywendice1954) October 24, 2024

By 1969, Jarriel became ABC’s Chief White House Correspondent, covering the administrations of Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford.

In 1979, Jarriel moved to anchor ABC’s “Weekend Report.”

That same year, he began the role in which he is most remembered — as a member of the team of journalists who launched ABC’s “20/20” show.

I had the great privilege of having worked with Tom Jarriel at ABC News. For a time I was the Senior Producer of the weekend newscasts when Tom was an anchor. Tom was the consummate broadcast journalist. And he was always a skilled, calm and steady presence. pic.twitter.com/kV5GQsxKvR

— David Guilbault (@davidguilbault) October 25, 2024

During his reporting career with “20/20,” Jarriel covered a report of women in the armed services alleging rapes and sexual abuse.

After the fall of the Berlin Wall, Jarriel traveled to Romania where he reported on children suffering in Romanian orphanages.

Jarriel called the report on the neglected children “the great, defining story of my career.”

Jarriel won six Emmy awards before retiring in 2002.

Sad to hear Tom Jarriel passed, at age 89. He was an excellent, award winning reporter and gracious colleague on 20/20, a true gentleman. RIP.
Condolences to Tom’s wife Joan and family.

— Geraldo Rivera (@GeraldoRivera) October 25, 2024

Jarriel is survived by his wife Joan, to whom he was married for 57 years, and three sons.

“We honor the depth and breadth of Jarriel’s 38 years at ABC. We celebrate his sense of fairness, of integrity, but most of all, his humanity,” WABC-TV said in reporting about Jarriel’s death.

“On and off the air, Jarriel embodied the best of everyone at ABC News.”

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