Emmy-winning newscaster Kristin Hoke loses battle with cancer
WEST PALM BEACH – Family, friends and viewers of WPBF Channel 25 news are mourning the loss of Emmy-award winning television news anchor Kristin Hoke after she lost her battle with cancer. She died June 9, 2010 at age 42.
The following statement was released by WPBF:
“The WPBF staff is overwhelmed with sadness and heartache as we lost a member of our family today. Kristin’s courageous five-year fight with cancer taught us all life lessons about the power of love, perseverance and the human spirit. Her willingness to share her battle with our local community has helped to educate people about this horrific disease and has no doubt helped to save many lives. Kristin was a true hero in every sense of the word and we will all be forever changed for having known her. Our hearts go out to Eric, Bella and their extended family. We ask that you keep them all in your thoughts and prayers.”
Her family and that of her husband issued a joint statement:
“Kristin Hoke Cecere – the wife, mother, sister and aunt we deeply loved and admired, passed away peacefully this morning following her brave battle with breast cancer. We will miss her joy, courage and unfailing kindness that touched us all. Kristin’s will to live inspired family, friends and strangers alike. Sharing her journey and knowing it helped others fueled her determination. We are forever grateful for the extraordinary care and support so many people provided her over the last several years. More than anything, Kristin loved being a mother and spending time with her family. She embraced what’s good, what’s right and valued each day she was given. We will live our lives comforted, remembering her beautiful smile, knowing she’s now watching over us.”
She was raised in Michigan, the youngest of five children. She stayed close to home for college at the University of Michigan and for her first TV job in Lansing. Tennessee and California followed. In 2000, WPBF called her.
It was at the TV station that Kristin met her husband, Eric Cecere. They married in 2004.
Just three months after their wedding, doctors diagnosed Kristin with breast cancer, a disease that struck so many other women in her family – including her mother.
Kristin underwent endless cycles of chemotherapy and radiation, three brain surgeries and even a clinical trial. At the same time, she was working and sharing her story on WPBF, for which she earned three Emmys.
Kristin often said her greatest achievement was her daughter Isabella Margaret. “Being a mother was the only thing that mattered to me in my life,” said Kristin.
She was cancer-free when she had Isabella in 2007. On maternity leave, the cancer came back. Her determination to beat it was stronger than ever.
“Children just re-center you, they do. Because nothing else matters. Friends and family, friends and family, friends and family. It’s the only thing that matters in the end.”
The rare form of breast cancer that Kristin suffered eventually attacked her brain. In February, she gave her final interview.
“It’s very easy to let cancer claim your life. To be everything you know and do. But I fight against that,” she said.
“Life is too short, it is precious,” she said. “You should value every day like it’s your last. And if you’re not doing that you need to get busy and change the way you look at things.”
Kristin Hoke’s family has asked that anyone wishing to make a donation should do so to a trust that has been set up for Kristin’s daughter, Bella. The family has also asked that letters be sent to Bella so that one day she can know what her mother meant to so many people. Those letters can be sent to the same address as below.
Kristin Hoke Memorial Trust for Bella
P.O. Box 2729
Suwanee, GA 30024
Donations can be mailed or delivered to local Bank of America branches.
Photo, portions of story courtesy of WBPF-TV, Channel 25.
