Obituary: Yvonne Zanos / KDKA-TV reporter's genuine nature touched many
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Yvonne Zanos
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Once a month for the past six months, KDKA-TV consumer reporter Yvonne Zanos had a pajama party with friends, an escape from the ovarian cancer diagnosis she received in fall 2007.
The night of Jan. 1, Ms. Zanos and three KDKA colleagues -- reporter Mary Robb Jackson, "Pittsburgh Today Live" producer Jill Neely and videographer Lori Sperling -- gathered to tell stories, play Wii bowling, watch a movie and laugh.
"The movie always had to be a comedy because the whole purpose was just to have a good time. That's who Yvonne was. She loved to have fun," Ms. Jackson said. "Laughter is a healing thing. I think we needed it as much as Yvonne."
Ms. Zanos, whose joyful personality burst through TV screens during her popular product test reports, died yesterday at the Family Hospice and Palliative Care Center for Compassionate Care in Mt. Lebanon from complications related to ovarian cancer. She turned 60 on Wednesday.
In early December, while receiving the Award in Excellence in Media from Achieva, a nonprofit she volunteered with that provides support for individuals with disabilities and their families, Ms. Zanos told those in attendance that doctors had advised her she had two to six months to live. Last week she said she had already beaten their expectations.
Former WPXI anchor Newlin Archinal, who emceed the Achieva event, said Ms. Zanos used her prognosis to tell a story from her life and to give the message that if you feel the calling to make a change in the world, act on it.
Friends and colleagues described Ms. Zanos as a complex woman who could have her head in the clouds one minute and then snap to attention when work needed to be done. Ms. Jackson said her daughter and Ms. Zanos shared an interest in quantum physics. Beth Dolinar, a former reporter/anchor at WTAE, remembered Ms. Zanos as guileless.
"She did not have that wall that adults have, that space between her and the people around her," Ms. Dolinar said. "You would go into a party and she would be the one over talking to the waitress or the janitor. There was no ego that elevated her above anybody else."
First Published January 9, 2010 12:08 am
