Neena Pacholke, a television news anchor for ABC television affiliateWAOWin Wausau, Wisconsin, died on Aug. 27 at the age of 27.
Neena Pacholke.Neena Pacholke Facebook
“Neena loved this community and the people who lived here,” the station added. “She was a kind person with a big heart and a contagious smile and we will miss her greatly.”
Neena was a high school basketball star atFreedom High Schoolin Tampa, Florida, and went on to play three years of college basketball as a guard at theUniversity of South Florida, where she was a member of two teams that appeared in the NCAA Tournament, according to theTimes. Her professional website shares that she joined WAOW as a multimedia reporter in 2017 and started working as an anchor in 2019.
University of South Florida
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Kaitlynn Pacholke told theTimesthat Neena, who was engaged to be married, had grown into a Green Bay Packers fan and an avid snow skiier while working in Wisconsin.
“Being your co-anchor Neena was an honor. You were Batman and I was Robin,” Neena’s co-anchor, Brendan Mackey, wrote in tribute to his colleague Monday onFacebook. “When I joined WAOW you made it clear we were going to work hard and compete with the best.”
“Let’s remember Neena Pacholke for the beautiful person she was. The brightest light in the room. The biggest smile and the funniest laugh,” he added.
“She just radiated love and positivity, and she just cared so much about pouring into other people, and always put other people first,” Kaitlynn Pacholke told theTimeson Monday. “I think she did that at the expense of not caring about herself.”
source: people.com
