Jean Rather, the wife of former longtime CBS News anchor Dan Rather, died Tuesday at the age of 89, her family announced.
Rather died in Austin, Texas, surrounded by family and friends following a battle with cancer, her family said in a statement.
“Jean was a steadfast advisor and rock of true Texas grit during every storm,” her family said. “She was also the kind of wife who could meet presidents, kings and queens, draft dodgers, criminals, and corporate suits every day with equal ease and a stunning smile.”
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Born Jean Goebel in Smithville, Texas, a small town southeast of Austin, Jean was one of three sisters. She went to work immediately after graduating high school.
Jean and Dan met at a Houston radio station and were married 67 years.
Her family described her as an accomplished artist with paintings that were shown in galleries and private collections across the U.S.
She served for eight years as vice chair of the New York City Art Commission. She also served on the boards of several nonprofits, including the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, the UT Press and the Harry Ransom Center.
The 93-year-old Dan Rather spent 44 years with CBS News, as a bureau chief, war correspondent, foreign correspondent and White House correspondent.
He succeeded Walter Cronkite as the anchor of “CBS Evening News” in 1981 and spent 24 years in that chair before signing off in 2005.
In 1963, he reported on the assassination of President John F. Kennedy from Dallas. In an interview last year reflecting on his career, he recounted a conversation he had with Jean at the time.
“I didn’t take time to grieve,” Rather said. “Because I said to myself, it’s my professional responsibility. I remember calling my wife Jean, who was in Houston at the time of the assassination, and she had cautioned me: ‘Dan, sooner or later, you’re going to have make room for your own emotions.'”
Along with her husband, Jean is survived by her son and daughter, Danjack and Robin, and her grandson Andy, along with several members of her extended family.
Her family described her as a “tremendous mother and grandmother, making every game, cheering on every win, putting Band-Aids on every skinned knee, and serving as a confidante and friend to all her family members.”
contributed to this report.
