Thomas Edwin Jarriel (December 29, 1934 – October 24, 2024) was an American television news reporter who worked for the

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

network from 1964 to 2002.

Background

Jarriel was born in

LaGrange, Georgia LaGrange is a city in and the county seat of Troup County, Georgia, United States. The population of the city was estimated to be 30,858 in 2020 by the U.S. Census Bureau. It is the principal city of the LaGrange, Georgia Micropolitan Statist ...

, on December 29, 1934. During his childhood, he and his family moved to

Shreveport, Louisiana Shreveport ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is the List of municipalities in Louisiana, third-most populous city in Louisiana after New Orleans and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Baton Rouge. The bulk of Shreveport is in Caddo Parish, Lo ...

. He attended the

University of Houston The University of Houston (; ) is a Public university, public research university in Houston, Texas, United States. It was established in 1927 as Houston Junior College, a coeducational institution and one of multiple junior colleges formed in ...

, graduating in 1956.

Career

Jarriel began his career at

KPRC-TV KPRC-TV (channel 2) is a television station in Houston, Texas, United States, affiliated with NBC and owned by Graham Media Group. Its studios are located on Southwest Freeway (I-69/ US 59) in the Southwest Management District (formerly Greate ...

in Houston. Shortly after joining ABC News in the 1960s, he became

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...

correspondent for ABC, during the administrations of U.S. Presidents

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until Resignation of Richard Nixon, his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...

and

Gerald Ford Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr. (born Leslie Lynch King Jr.; July 14, 1913December 26, 2006) was the 38th president of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, Ford assumed the p ...

. Later, in 1977, Jarriel co-anchored ABC Evening News on Saturdays for two years, and in 1979, joined the network's

newsmagazine A news magazine is a typed, printed, and published magazine, radio, or television program, usually published weekly, consisting of articles about current events. News magazines generally discuss stories in greater depth than newspapers or new ...

20/20 Visual acuity (VA) commonly refers to the clarity of visual perception, vision, but technically rates an animal's ability to recognize small details with precision. Visual acuity depends on optical and neural factors. Optical factors of the eye ...

,'' as an investigative correspondent. On that show and on several hour-long documentaries, he covered subjects such as the defects in the American criminal justice system, wasteful spending by the

United States Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD, or DOD) is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government charged with coordinating and superv ...

, and transportation accidents. During most of that time, Jarriel anchored the 15-minute bulletins ABC aired late nights on Saturday and Sunday, until those broadcasts were cancelled in 1991; he was also the most frequent anchor of the daytime ABC News Brief updates that aired during the era. He also served as substitute anchor on '' World News Tonight.'' Jarriel retired from broadcasting in 2002, but briefly returned the following year to contribute to ABC's coverage of the

Space Shuttle Columbia disaster On Saturday, February 1, 2003, Space Shuttle Columbia, Space Shuttle ''Columbia'' disintegrated as it Atmospheric entry, re-entered the atmosphere over Texas and Louisiana, killing all seven astronauts on board. It was the second List of Spa ...

Awards and honors

Jarriel received 10

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...

s over the course of his career.

Personal life and death

Jarriel married Joan Borgeson in 1957, and they had three children. In their later years, they divided their time between Florida and

Edgewater, Maryland Edgewater is a census-designated place (CDP) in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, Anne Arundel County, Maryland, United States. The population was 9,023 at the 2010 census. Geography Edgewater is a suburb located southwest of Annapolis, Maryland, A ...

. Jarriel had a stroke in December 2023, and died from related complications at a care facility in

Annapolis, Maryland Annapolis ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of Maryland. It is the county seat of Anne Arundel County and its only incorporated city. Situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east ...

, on October 24, 2024, at the age of 89.

References

External Links

*
ABC News profile of Tom Jarriel
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jarriel, Tom 1934 births 2024 deaths 20th-century American journalists 21st-century American journalists American television news anchors American television reporters and correspondents C. E. Byrd High School alumni People from LaGrange, Georgia People from Shreveport, Louisiana University of Houston alumni