'Today Show' Anchor Craig Melvin's Brother Lawrence Dead at 43

Today Show co-anchor Craig Melvin revealed his brother, the Rev. Dr. Lawrence Meadows, died Wednesday at age 43 following a battle with colon cancer. Meadows was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer at 39, Melvin previously revealed on Today. Melvin's brother was a Baptist minister and father to two children.

"We lost our older brother this week," Melvin wrote on Instagram. "Lawrence Meadows was a husband (to Angela, his childhood sweetheart), father (to Addie, 11 and Lawson, 7) Baptist minister, entrepreneur, and one of the best human beings you would've ever known. Colon cancer robbed him and us of so much." Melvin later noted that his brother "spent a fair amount of time over the past few years raising awareness about the disease. We'll be keeping up that fight. We love you, bro."

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At the end of his post, Melvin included a link to an in memoriam fund at the Colorectal Cancer Alliance for Meadows. So far, almost $2,000 has been realised for Meadows' family. Meadows received a Masters in Divinity from Gardner-Webb University in 2002 and a Doctorate in Ministry in 2008. "Reverend Meadows passed to the care and keeping of a loving and mercified God, with whom he is now resting in everlasting peace," reads his obituary. "We give thanks to our Lord and Savior for his time with us was well spent."

Melvin, 41, opened up about his older half-brother's battle with colon cancer on the Today Show in 2017. In October 2016, Meadows' doctor removed a baseball-sized tumor from his abdomen and found cancer spread to other parts of his body. "There's no cure for colon cancer," Meadows said in 2017. "But it's more like cutting grass. Cut it back, cut it back, until eventually it just dies."

The risk of developing colon cancer is about 1 in 23 for men and 1 in 25 for women, the American Cancer Society estimates. The ACS estimates there will be 104,610 new cases of colon cancer in the U.S. in 2020. Colon cancer is the third leading cause of cancer-related deaths in men and in women, and the second most common cause in men and women combined in the U.S. According to the CDC, Black men and women have a higher incidence and mortality rate than other races.

Several of Melvin's colleagues shared their condolences in response to the news. "Sending you so much love Craig. I know how much you adored him," Today's Jenna Bush Hager wrote, while actress Holly Robinson Peete wrote, "I'm so sorry to hear this Craig. Sending love to your family." MSNBC journalist Hallie Jackson also commented, writing: "Heartbroken. Thinking of you."