Dan Rather, family announces heartbreaking news

People have sent prayers and well wishes to veteran news anchor Dan Rather after news broke Tuesday that his wife, Jean Rather, has died.

She was 89.

According to reports, Jean Rather died in Austin, Texas, surrounded by family and friends. She had been fighting cancer.

“Jean was a steadfast counselor and rock of true Texas grit during every storm,” her family said in a statement. “She was also the kind of wife who could every day meet presidents, kings and queens, men of war, criminals and corporate suites with equal ease and a great smile.”

CBS News writes that Jean and Dan were married for 67 years.

Dan Rather, 93, spent 44 years with CBS News as a bureau chief, war correspondent, foreign affairs correspondent and White House correspondent, the network said.

CBS said Jean is survived by her Dan, a son, Danjack, and a daughter, Robin, along with a grandson, Andy.

The family called her a “tremendous mother and grandmother who played every game, cheered every win, put Band-Aids on every scrapped knee and served as a confidante and friend to all her family members.”