Warner Saunders, Longtime Chicago TV Anchor, Dies At 83

CHICAGO — Award-winning Chicago TV journalist and longtime NBC 5 News anchor Warner Saunders has died, the station announced Wednesday. He was 83.

Saunders was taken to Illinois Masonic Hospital after he collapsed Tuesday night, his wife told NBC 5. The retired newscaster and Chicago native was later pronounced dead at the hospital.

For four decades, Saunders was a staple on Chicago TV, spending nearly 30 years at NBC 5. Before his time at WMAQ-TV, he was the community affairs director at WBBM-TV, where he also hosted a talk show and children's program.

At NBC 5, Saunders eventually settled in at the anchor desk, helping to lead the station's 5, 6 and 10 p.m. news. He retired from those duties in May 2009.

"I’m just in awe that you have allowed me to come into your home for all of these years," he said on his final broadcast. "We bring some nasty news from time to time and I'm just glad y'all didn't kill the messenger. … Now, I'm not going to cry, but I'm close to tears tonight."

Over his career, Saunders won 20 Emmy Awards, and he was a member of the Chicago Journalism Hall of Fame and the Chicago Academy of Television Arts and Sciences' Silver Circle. Saunders also was a distinguished educator, teaching at Malcolm X College, Northeastern Illinois University and Indiana University Northwest.

Saunders graduated from Xavier University at Louisiana, where he also played basketball. Besides his degree from Xavier, Saunders earned a master's degree from Northeastern Illinois and received honorary doctorates from Rush University Medical School and St. Xavier University.

Longtime NBC 5 News anchor Warner Saunders during his final broadcast in May 2009. (Screen shot from video via Liboman | YouTube)