Remembering the impact of Mark Spain as a champion for the community

LYNCHBURG, Va. (WSET) — Tonight we celebrate the life of Mark Spain, even as we mourn his sudden death after a short battle with pancreatic cancer.

But we know that we are not alone in grieving – so are you, the community.

For almost a decade, you welcomed him into your home and felt like he was family.

Mark also saw those in this town as family. Anyone familiar with his Facebook page remembers how often he started the day with a post that starts with “Hello sunshine.”

He truly loved his work, his family and his community. He had a special spark and could deliver the news in a way that connected with you. After his death, we heard over and over again from thousands of people how much society valued him, but everyone already knew that. The community trusted him and looked up to him until his passing.

He was never afraid to ask the tough questions to get to the bottom of his stories here at ABC13. Fighting for you was something he strongly believed in and wanted to do. He interviewed key community leaders, from Liberty University President Dondi Costin to Lynchburg Police Chief Ryan Zuidema, to politicians ranging from congressmen, governors and more.

Mark dug deep into issues important to Virginians. Things like the death penalty, vaccines, mask mandates during the pandemic, gun laws — there was no difficult topic he was afraid to face if it meant fighting for a story that needed to be told.

Mark Spain, beloved ABC13 anchor and community figure, dies after battle with cancer

And he didn’t just sit behind the anchor desk to do his job either. He went out into the community to see what was happening and get involved practically in his work. He went out past curfew in Lynchburg to see what was going on. He helped cover a tornado in Bedford County in the field. He went to the National D-Day Memorial and was a part of history there at its 75th anniversary.

But if you knew Mark, you knew he didn’t just use his journalistic skills and position to fill out his job description. He also used his platform to positively impact society. He helped raise $75,000 for Jubilee’s new media center just this summer. He helped mentor a young man through ABC13’s partnership with Big Brothers, Big Sisters. He teamed up with the Salvation Army to ring the bell and raise money for that organization. He even took on the task of growing a mustache for Mustaches for Kids.

What you saw on TV was who Mark was as a person and he loved to have fun. He often spoke of his love of music and sometimes combined his playfulness with his love of music…

But what he loved most was his family: his daughters Jenna and Lindsey, his son Max and his wife, Lynita. He always put his family first, even with a job that kept him at the anchor desk until 11:30 at night.

When he sat behind that desk three weeks ago, we didn’t know it would be for the last time. He delivered the news as he always has: as a true professional.

On his Facebook profile, Mark’s bio section says “The goal is always to be a little better at everything than I was the day before.”

During his ten years with ABC13, he did just that, but the truth is, he also made life for all of us a little better every day. If you ever talked to him and asked how he was doing, his answer was always the same, “I’m blessed.”

But what we all know is that we were the ones who were blessed to know him.