In May 2020, WLOS anchor Darcel Grimes retired after being on the air 39 years. We should be on the lookout anytime soon for someone with her talent and genius for the news in Western North Carolina. She truly set the bar and limit for broadcasting journalism in her time. She truly honed it in for greatness and excellence in journalism for four decades.
She started with WLOS in 1981 and truly has been a trailblazer in her own right. She has been in the Western North Carolina media for years, and she originally planned to return to Washington, D.C., but that didn’t happen. Miss Grimes started out as a reporter in Tupelo, Miss., before beginning her stellar career in Asheville news media.
She retired after experiencing complications with upper respiratory issues. Her condition is called sarcoidosis, which is “growth of tiny collections of inflammatory cells in different parts of the body,” according to the Mayo Clinic.
Miss Grimes was something else in the world of broadcasting journalism, and she has interviewed world leaders, presidents and notables who have traveled to Western North Carolina. Miss Grimes had a magic on the air, and we need to hold up one second that we see anyone like in her soon in Western North Carolina news.
Joe Fishleigh, general manager for WLOS, said about Miss Grimes, “I doubt we will see anyone like her again.” Miss Darcel Grimes will always be at the temple of Western North Carolina news excellence, and she is surely missed off the air.
— Steven Hawkins
Greenville, S.C.
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