Beloved ABC Anchor Passes Away

Beloved ABC presenter Jim Vargas has died at 78, his family announced.

The veteran journalist, known for his hard-nosed reporting on politics and public affairs, enjoyed a four-decade career in television news, including two decades at ABC7.

Vargas died Jan. 14. His cause of death has not been disclosed. Family members said Vargas was inspired to become a journalist after covering political unrest and riots in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

In 1974, he won an Emmy Award alongside Steve David and Bob Marshall for coverage of the Patty Hearst kidnapping. He was also part of a team that earned a Peabody Award for reporting on the devastating 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake.

Beyond ABC, Vargas worked at KRON and KTVU. He retired in 2011 and was later inducted into the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences’ Silver Circle.

ABC presenter Jim Vargas. (ABC7)

Tributes poured in following news of his death.

Paul Jeschke, a former KGO-TV reporter, called Vargas “the ultimate all-round reporter.”

“He could, and did, cover everything with professionalism and style,” Jeschke said. “We worked together from 1970 onward. He was always a reliable reporter, colleague and friend. He will be missed.”

Former KGO-TV reporters Carol Ivy and Ed Leslie described Vargas as their best friend.

“We had been in touch with him until the end and will miss him greatly,” they said.

Assignment editor Shelley Kilburn remembered Vargus’s “wonderful witty dry sense of humor” and how he “treated me with respect and dignity.”

“He trusted me with assignments, news gathering, and directions, to make sure I didn’t get him and the crew lost in the field,” she wrote. “I could feel that trust. He was the absolute professional news man and incredibly helpful in putting together all the needed elements for a story.”

“But he also knew how to have a good time and let his hair down… as did the rest of us back in those days,” she continued. “My time with him was in the mid to late 80’s. That was some BIG hair to let down!”

Download the FREE Trending Politics App to get the latest news FIRST >>