♪ ♪ >> good evening. i'm doreen gentzler. this is a difficult day for our news4 family. we hope you'll bear with us, if we have trouble getting through the next half hour. we've lost our leader, our conscience, and above all, our friend. jim vance died this morning at the age of 75. as you know, he'd been battling cancer these last few months, and tonight, people all over washington and the country are sharing their memories of vance. before we get to those, here's a short look at his very full life. >> we did this

broadcast. you never know what's going to be amusing or terrifying. >> i'm jim vance. >> you knew him for 48 years, the smooth voice and calm presence that made us all feel like no matter how bad the news was, we'd be okay. over the years, vance was who he was. you probably know a lot about him already. he wasn't shy about sharing. you know he rode motorcycles. he liked cars and fishing and sports and mixing it up with whomever was reporting on sports. [ laughter ] >> vance always had a way with kids. before becoming a journalist, he was a teacher in his hometown of philadelphia. he started reporting here in 1969. but from the start, the bosses knew they had an anchor in the making. he made a name for himself covering stories all over the world. vietnam, el salvador, south africa. but he didn't have to go far for some of his best work. reporting on the people right here in his adopted hometown of

big story that's happened here over the last 48 years, vance covered it all. the race riots on u street and in columbia heights, the plane that crashed into the 14th street bridge, watergate, the attempted assassination of president reagan, 9/11. he covered inaugurations for 12 presidents and all seven of washington's mayors. in 1977, vance was the guy the han afi muslims asked to speak to the night they seized three buildings in town. and he was the first journalist marion barry called after he was arrested in 1990. vance interviewed every president, some at the white house, others on a fishing boat, and he gave his view, with a dose of reality that could be refreshing even if you didn't agree with him. vance had some dark times here too and some struggles of his ow

but he came out of those a better person and alwaysse ud the lessons he had to learn the hard way to try to make life better for students trying to navigate their own paths. it was just a few months ago that vance told us he had cancer and as we tried to hold our emotions in check, vance reminded us about the incredible life he's lived. >> the blessings never stopped flowing. >> the last time vance was in public was when they put him on a mural at ben's chili bowl just a few weeks ago. he's received so many honors and awards over the years, but you could tell this one was special. >> what an honor. >> and all of you meant so much to him too. he never grew tired of reminding himself where he came from. >> hello, i'm jim vance. >> and how lucky he was to be invited into your homes for so many decades. ♪ ♪

>> news4's pat collins is at ben's chili bowl beiwhere vance picture went up on the wall recently. it's a hard day for all of us. you've known vance for nearly 40 years. >> reporter: indeed, doreen. this is the saddest of days for us. jim vance's picture is on the wall around the corner here at ben's chili bowl. for some reason, i never thought he would die. he was a strong man, a man's man. he loved motorcycles. he'd go on these bizarre fishing and hunting excursions, the more dangerous the trip, the more he liked it. and could that man tell a story. when he looked down the barrel of a lens of a camera and he began to talk. poetry. >> i know him very well. >> reporter: when he heard about what happened, he came to the

he came to see that picture. he came to talk about jim vance. meet now william souder, 52 years old, native washingtonian. >> i like his swag. you know, i liked the way he talked, you know, swag is something that i pick up. i pick up from my elders. that part of him right there, i really admire. god bless his spirit. and everything about him. but we all have a time, so -- to everybody, god bless him. >> right here. >> reporter: today that picture was the place to be. you see, it was just a few weeks ago that ben's chili bowl unveiled the new mural. it's on the iconic wall, alongside the famous d.c. restaurant. and there high on top, our own jim vance. and even though he was sick and battling for his life, he m

the honor. it was a sad and proud moment, most of us will never forget. >> i don't have a pair of pants in my closet that will fit me anymore, but that's all right. because the blessings never stopped flowing. i came here on june 10th of 1969. and one of the first places that i came to, to spend my money in d.c. was ben's chili bowl. and all these years later, he's still here. it has been my distinct honor and privilege to have been in the company of some extraordinary people. you cannot imagine my joy and my pride when i g

month or so ago, that all y'all had voted poor ass little me to sit on ben's chili bowl's wall. you have no idea what an honor that is. >> what a great guy. no matter what people think of him, great guy. he is the modern-day frank sinatra. he did it his way. >> that's ron minor. he too stopped by the wall. he too wanted to see the picture. ron is a retired nbc cameraman. vance called him chop. they were running buddies. they rode harleys together, near and far. vance loved motorcycles. he was as comfortable on a harley as he was sitting on a news set. and chances are, if you saw vance, chop was right next to him. >> i was 22 years old when i m

and he was 27. and honest to god, the words -- i mean, when i found out this morning, i just couldn't talk. it was just unbelievable. unbelievable. but, you know, we all must do it. it's just sad to see him go out this way. >> in the alley, at that picture today, keely foye. vance was a customer at her coffee shop. >> he was one of my regular customers on sunday. the first time he came in when i was working there, i was so shocked. happy shocked. and the rest of my employees were like, he comes in all the time, it's normal. but i'm like, this is jim vance. >> reporter: for some reason, i thought he'd never die. vance, you'll always be the man. >> i think a lot of us thought that, pat. he was the

always. pat collins, thank you. we've heard from so many of vance's friends today sharing their memories of him and his impact on washington. hear now from a long-time local news anchor maureen bunyan and radio personality donnie simpson. >> he was the siking of news. the king of anchors. i mean around this entire country. >> i saw people fall in love with him, the viewers falling in love with him. >> when this guy would walk through the building, it was just like, i can't even describe it, man. it was like john wayne or jimmy stewart or somebody walking through there. >> completely devoted to his community. loved everything about the washington area. loved the people, love the restaurants, love the culture, and loved the politics. he was the perfect person to represent wrc, but he also was a great standar

>> he's on the edge of that generation that didn't say that to men. i'm not sure i ever said that to him, but i am sure about this, that he knew i loved him. >> vance wouldn't like to admit it. in fact, he wouldn't want all this teangdattention, but he wa time. hundreds of you are sharing memories tonight on social media, including some pretty big names. let's go to erika gonzalez in the newsroom. it's wonderful to see what an impact vance had on so many people. >> it is, definitely. the condolences for jim have just been pouring in all day on social media. we can't get to all of them, about you we want to show you a few really special ones. from "nbc nightly news" anchor lester holt, jim vance brought warmth and dignity to every newscast. a d.c. news legend and a cherished member of our nbc family. we'll miss you, jim. from katie couric, i'm so sad

jim vance, washington's longest serving local news anchor. from u.s. ambassador to the u.n. and national security adviser susan rice tweeted, since my childhood, warm, honest jim vance has made d.c. proud, we will miss you. caps and wizards owner tedly i don't know -- ted leonsis said, great guy, respected, revered, truly will be missed. prayers your way. rest in peace. and i love this one from the nationals. look at this picture and the message. we mourn the loss of jim vance, a d.c. icon who will be greatly missed. and i want to share a memory with you as well that i have that means a lot to me. it was thanksgiving of 2013, and it was the first opportunity that i had to work alongside vance. and i was so nervous and scared and i told him so. and he said, you got this, baby girl. and that is one of my favorite memories. we all know this has been a re

it has been so comforting to relive those vance memories and it's like we get to enjoy him all over again. back to you. >> i agree with you, and people are sharing so many wonderful memories on social media and we appreciate all the lovely comments of support for all of us at a difficult time. we have a lot more to share with you this half hour. tom sherwood is going to join me on set, and we invite you to share your memories of vance along with us on the nbc washington facebook and twitter pages. we'll be right back.

and now, your storm team4 forecast. good evening, i'm somara theodore, right now, we're experiencing our second line of storms lighting up the map with a few severe thunderstorm warnings. the first one is in southern prince george's county. zooming in, we have high winds with this one, about 60 miles per hour. here's a few of the areas that i'm expecting to see get hit pretty soon here. brandywine, coming up at 6:15,

naylor, 6:23 p.m. we'll continue to see this storm push down towards the south and east. again, you are looking at very high wind speeds. in the northern neck, we're seeing lightning and damaging winds and heavy rainfall. that will head to fredericksburg, imagine in the next 20, 30 minutes. so if you are outside, on areas east of fredericksburg, go ahead and move inside, we are expecting that this severe thunderstorm will continue to push through. i am tracking storms from the northern portions of maryland down into the northern neck, and i wish i could say that was all we were going to see for this evening, if you look back west, around 10:00, 11:00, we could get another batch of wet weather. if you're planning on going out, i recommend having the umbrella handy. again, another round of showers and storms possible. temperatures tonight only making it into the upper 70s, low

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current and former leaders here in the district are talking about the impact jim vance has had in our city. here now in their own words, d.c. mayor muriel bowser and former u.s. attorney general eric holder. >> he's been on nbc my entire life. so i don't really know a time in washington without jim vance. we will miss him very much. i know i speak for all 681,

loved him back. >> the thing that endeared him to me was his ability to talk about the local things. he knew d.c. and d.c. knew him. he was trusted by people in this town, he was respected by people in this town, he was loved by people in this city. >> news4's tom sherwood did that interview with eric holder today and he joins me now. you and i started working with vance the same year, 1989. >> i wasn't sure you were going to say what year that was. but he welcomed us like we were old friends. mark segraves was saying today, whether you were an old-timer or new-comer, vance always treated you with respect and shared the city. vance once shared with me his tickets to the wizards game. i took the seats, i came back and said, these are horrible seats. he said what do you

team. but as soon as something happens, the whole team stands up and you can't see a damn thing. he never gave me his tickets again. >> maybe for vance they didn't stand up. >> here's how he impacted and affected people. at the democratic convention -- [ inaudible ] -- we were walking and vance is carrying his gear. every three feet someone would stop him, a police officer from prince william county or somebody from anne arundel county, and he kept stopping, and i said, vance, we're going to be late. he looked at me and said, what are you talking about? and turned and talked to the next people. and of course he was never late. and i did that interview with eric holder, and he said that vance was able to get a lot of respect from people, but the good thing about vance is, he gave it back. >> he did indeed. he always had

anybody, anybody who wanted to talk to him. and he was a listener as well, which is rare. >> he showed that respect on tv and in real life and on the wamu show, he once told me, shut up, sherwood, you're talking too much. we loved having him on that. of course i was talking to much, that's what i do. vance was terrific. >> he was. thank you, tom sherwood. up next, a favorite moment some of you have shared today between vance and george michael. and as we go to break, the big smile that we were remembering today here at news4.

then you belong at bass pro shops for freedom days. with clearance savings of 20 to 40% on select shorts and shirts. and save $50 on this eclipse speed frame tent. 1246789 we can't leave you tonight without hearing the laugh we all know so well. vance liked to have fun. especially with george michael. here they are together in one of their more memorable moments. >> it's fashion week over in paris, the latest fashions are on the runway for next spring. but there was a problem out there today.

a model fell down twice. that's her going down once. the young man wearing that pink skirt never quite recovered after that. there she goes again. [ laughter ] that had to hurt. that was uncool. that's embarrassing. this is at least the second time. [ laughter ] >> well, you all are just really tickled by that. you try walking in those shoes. >> hold on, hold on. [ laughter ] >> i checked today, almost 20 million people have watched that on youtube. and that's what i'm remembering about vance today, how much he loved to laugh. at himself and at the silly stuff that sometimes

we laughed a lot over the years, and we especially loved trying to make each other laugh at inappropriate times. but i also know my friend carried around some pain. his own and other people's too, which he felt very deeply. he talked about it on tv, which was a brave thing to do. but he did it because he knew that his words might help somebody else. and i know they did. he did a lot to help so many of us over the years. that includes me. but here's a story you may not hear elsewhere. vance asked me to fill in for him at a high school fundraising event a few years back. after i got there, i learned that part of my job would be to announce the jim vance scholarship award winner. turns out he had been funding that tuition bill for a while and never mentioned it. one of many things he did without telling anybody about it. he was a role model, an icon, a father and husband, all of that. but to me, he was

friend and a generous partner who welcomed me into the fold and made our partnership possible. i learned so much from him over the years, and for that, i am very grateful. yes, i'm going to miss him terribly, and i know you will too, but than his legacy and his integrity are written very large over every one of us here at news4, and we all want to measure up to his high standards every day. and i like to thank that vance and george michael are having a good laugh together right

on this saturday night, russia connection? a new report says attorney general jeff sessions discussed campaign issues with russian's ambassador during the presidential campaign. the heated reaction from president trump. the devastating loss in california as residents return to find their homes in ruins after the worst wildfire of the year. desperate days. the growing anger and deadly protests in venezuela as the government tries to expand its power and crack down on dissent. opioid court. a new approach in battling the epidemic sending drug users immediately to treatment instead of jail. and sweet success. how one young man is building a satisfying life and business by