Legendary TV News Anchor Sue Wylie Dies in Car Crash

Wylie, a pioneer in Lexington television news, worked for LEX 18 from 1968 to 1998.

By Allison Schonter

Sue Wylie, a trailblazer for women in journalism who the first female anchor in Kentucky, has died. Wylie passed away on Tuesday, Oct. 24 following a multi-vehicle crash on Alumni Drive near Chinoe Road in Lexington. She was 90.

According to Lexington police, per Lex 18, officers responded to a five-car collision at Alumni Drive and Chinoe Road at around 5 p.m. local time on Oct. 24. Three people were transported to the hospital. Fox 56 reports that one of the victims, later identified as Wylie, passed away approximately four hours later from blunt force trauma. Wylie's family also confirmed her death.

A Cincinnati native, Wylie's journalism career spanned decades and began with time at local stations WKRC, WLWT, and WCPO, WTVN in Columbus, and WCKT in Miami, Wylie holding various positions, including on-air talent to TV show host. After making her way to Lexington, where she a midday news show to General Manager Harry Barfield, Wylie anchored and produced WLEX-TV's Noon Today program, which is still on the air today and made her the first woman in Kentucky to anchor a daily TV newscast. She anchored and produced Noon Today for the next 22 years, during that time also producing and hosting the public affairs program Your Government.

She also created, produced, and hosted other shows on WLEX-TV regularly, including One to One, In Touch, and several documentaries, was Assistant News Director for Community Affairs in 1988, and was inducted into the Kentucky Journalism Hall of Fame in 1999. In 2017, she was honored with the Gold Circle Award for 50 years in TV by the Ohio Valley Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (Emmy Award).

"She was a trailblazer in television so we all admired her and respected her, but we liked her. She was fun. Her legacy, I think, can be best expressed by the number of women who work in television news in Central Kentucky and Sue Wylie busted that door down," Dave Krusenklaus, a LEX-18 feature reporter and anchor, said, Spectrum News 1 reported. "We'll miss her ... We'll miss her. We missed her when she left here and now we miss her even more because we'll never see her again, but her presence will never leave us. It will be felt for a long time."

Wylie's funeral will be held at Southland Christian Church on Harrodsburg Road in Lexington on Tuesday, Nov, 7. The church will open at 1 p.m., with the service beginning at 2 p.m.

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