How did Kent Dana die? Tributes pour in as beloved news anchor dies aged 80

Renowned news anchor Kent Dana passed away on April 19 at the age of 80. The news was confirmed by his son and reporter, Joe Dana.

Kent Dana’s cause of death

Kent Dana died following a long battle with an infection after a broken hip. He broke his hip in January 2022 which led to a serious infection, and he suffered complications following his hip surgery.

A news outlet reported that he spent several weeks in the hospital before his condition worsened, eventually causing death. It remains unknown if he suffered any other health issues in the past.

Kent’s career and personal life

Kent became interested in journalism because of his father Joe, who became popular with the weekly show Arizona Caravan on Channel 5. He grew up as the third of seven children in a house near Central Avenue and Thomas Road.

After graduating from West High School, Kent attended ASU for a year. He then went on a two-year mission to Uruguay for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. In the following years, he studied broadcast journalism at Brigham Young University and worked at a Provo radio station.

Post-college, Kent worked at gas stations and took up the role of a weekend anchor for KOOL-TV. His biggest breakthrough came in 1979 when he joined12 News as the male evening anchor. He continued in that role from 1979 to 2004 and then went on to anchor at CBS 5 for five years, starting in 2005.

Dana won several Emmy Awards and was inducted into the Arizona Broadcasters Hall of Fame. He received the Rocky Mountain Emmy Governor’s Award in 2018. Dana attributed his success to his co-anchors and longtime producer, Julie Frisoni Shumway.

Shumway and Dana worked together for many years, and created the two projects Kent was most proud of in his career, namely Wednesday’s Child and Silent Witness.

Wednesday’s Child was a partnership with Aid to Adoption for Special Kids. He profiled children in the foster system and heard their stories to facilitate adoption efforts. Kent would banter and laugh with the kids, truly enjoying the conversations.

Netizens pay tribute on Twitter

Fans expressed their sadness and paid tribute to him on Twitter after they heard about his demise:

About the author

Anupal is a pop culture writer at Sportskeeda with a degree in Political Science. He developed a keen interest in the lives of celebrities, films, TV shows, and box office collections since an early age. After accumulating significant experience as a content writer across varied fields at companies such as The Indian Wire, DigiStatement, and QuirkyByte Media, he eventually settled on writing about his favorite genre - pop culture.

Anupal believes in conducting in-depth research while writing about any topic and relies on varied sources to ensure he produces holistic articles. He also often glances through content that was published in the 80s and 90s to gain a better understanding of the subject he is covering.

Anupal admires Robert Downey Jr., who played one of his favorite Marvel superheroes, Iron Man. He is inspired by the actor's resilience and the determination in overcoming past struggles to building a successful Hollywood career and admires the way he articulates his thoughts while speaking in interviews.

If Anupal could travel back in time, he would love to experience James Cameron's 2009 film 'Avatar' in a theatre full of fans. When he's not busy working, he binges on the latest OTT titles across languages.

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