CBS New York meteorologist Elise Finch died suddenly over the weekend, aged 51, as her colleagues gathered to mourn her death.
Finch’s final weather forecast was last Friday, two days before WCBS announced her death.
Announcing her unexpected death, the station said:
“It is with profound sadness that we share news of the passing of our beloved Elise Dione Finch Henriques.”
“Elise was a gifted and consummate professional who took great care with her work. She was also a wonderful ambassador in the community, including her hometown of Mount Vernon.
“Above all, Elise was a fiercely loving and devoted mother to her daughter Grace and wife to Graig Henriques, who is a photojournalist at WCBS.”
Finch died at a local hospital. However, her cause of death is not yet known.
As The Daily Mail reported:
Finch first started out as a weekend meteorologist in 2007 and was most recently on the morning news, delivering her latest forecast just last Friday afternoon.
Last night at 6.42pm, WCBS presenter Jessica Moore visibly choked up as she announced the death of her colleague on air.
She echoed WCBS’ statement, adding she and her colleagues were ‘joining Graig and Grace in their grieving.’
The anchor also said: “There was no one like her. We’re all gonna miss her very much.”
Early this morning, her colleagues were close to tears on air as aired a special broadcast remembering the CBS New York meteorologist
Memories included several pictures of her on the CBS News New York set as well as snippets from her broadcasts and ending with a video of the team hugging each other.
In the clip, they said: “Elise Finch was our bright light in the morning. We had the great pleasure of working with Elise for 16 years.
“Elise was on the air with us just this past Friday; her death was sudden and unexpected, leaving us all trying to understand how this could happen to our beautiful Elise, who was just 51 years old.
“Her dedication to the job was truly evident every day, every major weather event Elise reported on, many in the element.”
They went on to talk about Finch’s ‘great love for the entertainment industry,’ the music world, and how she was a self-professed ‘superfan’ of Janet Jackson.
“Elise married her true love Graig Enriquez, who she met at CBS 2. They married almost ten years ago in a glorious wedding ceremony,” the obituary continued and added:
“They have a beautiful daughter named Grace, and we always treasured the stories she would tell us about her wonderful life as a mother.”
“Truly, every day was a good day when we were with Elise, and we will miss her dearly.”
On Twitter, Moore wrote: “Elise was fiercely loyal to those she loved, a straight shooter, a consummate professional, and made me laugh until I cried.
“But above all, she was completely devoted to her family, especially her daughter Grace. I love you so much, my friend. Heaven now has an angel like no other.”
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