TV reporter Judy Sanders dies after a round of emotional goodbyes

Paul Grondahl



Emmy Award-winning TV reporter Judy Sanders, who faced a diagnosis of ovarian cancer with unflinching fortitude and uncommon grace, and who used her final months to gather a wide circle of friends to celebrate life and exchange heartfelt goodbyes, died Thursday.

An older sister and close friend were at the bedside of Sanders, 63, who was under hospice care.

Except for a few hospitalizations, she continued to work as an official photographer to Govs. David Paterson and Andrew Cuomo while she underwent several surgeries, eight rounds of chemotherapy and an experimental drug trial. The cancer had spread throughout her body and she chose to conclude treatment except pain medication. She outlived doctors' predictions about how long she had left to live by six months.

"She never got morose about dying and she wasn't afraid of it," said her older sister, Vicki, a former newspaper reporter. "She never got angry or depressed. She was always in the present and said she would live every day until the time came that it was over."

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