John Hambrick has terminal cancer

Former Cleveland news anchor John Hambrick, 73, with WEWS-Channel 5's "Eyewitness News" went it rose from third to first place in the early 1970s, has been diagnosed with terminal cancer.

Texas native Hambrick move to Georgetown, north of Austin, after retiring from television. He began his TV career in Texas in 1963 at a station in Abilene. He was working at Cincinnati’s WCPO-Channel 9 before switching to Cleveland in 1967. 

He stayed eight years before being replaced by Ted Henry and moving on to anchor KABC-Channel 7 in Los Angeles, KRON-Channel 4 in San Francisco, WNBC-Channel 4 in New York, Miami’s WTVJ and WCIX.

Three Hambrick brothers became news anchors -- Judd Hambrick, in Cleveland at WKYC-Channel 3 and WJKW (now WJW)-Channel 8. Mike Hambrick, a reporter and anchor in Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Dallas and Washington, D.C., had a  brief run as a noon anchor at Channel 5.

John Hambrick won three Emmys, two in New York and one in Miami.

Hambrick’s Cleveland co-workers were weatherman Don Webster, sports anchor Gib Shanley and commentator Dorothy Fuldheim. Dave Patterson became Hambrick's co-anchor in 1970.

To read PD and former BJ television critic Mark Dawdziak’s story about John Hambrick, click on http://www.cleveland.com/tv-blog/index.ssf/2013/07/former_cleveland_news_anchor_john_hambrick_has_terminal_cancer.html#incart_river