Beloved ABC Anchor Dies of Cancer: Tanya Spencer Was 53

The former WRTV news anchor was diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer in 2022.

By Allison Schonter

Former Indianapolis-based news anchor and local politician Tanya Sumner has died. Sumner – who went by the name Tanya Spencer on-air at ABC affiliate WRTV and was known to viewers as Tanya Jourdain during her time at Evansville's Channel 14 – passed away in her home on Saturday, May 24 following a years-long battle with colon cancer, according to WRTV. She was 53.

Sumner was diagnosed with colon cancer in November 2022 after emergency surgery led to the discovery of colon cancer. Due to her having the Kras G12c mutation, a rare genetic mutation, the cancer was "very aggressive" and "very fast growing," and both chemotherapy and cancer fighting drugs were not effective. By the time of her passing, the cancer had metastasized throughout her body, "wrapping around her internal organs" and spreading into her liver and lungs, according to a GoFundMe campaign created by Sumner's friends.

Throughout her battle, Sumner became a health advocate, encouraging others to get colonoscopies. She said that she waited to get a colonoscopy, as she was unaware that in 2021 new guidelines called for the screenings to begin at age 45 instead of 50.

"If you could imagine me finding this grapefruit size tumor 6 years earlier—we would be having a different conversation. Yeah its (a colonoscopy) uncomfortable, its unpleasant," she said. "No one wants a colonoscopy but get the thing. Get it at 45."

Sumner was a well-known figure in the Indiana news world. After graduating from Western Kentucky University in 1996, she became an anchor and reporter for 14 WFIE in Evansville. She worked at the station from 1997 through the mid-2000s, going on to join Indianapolis ABC affiliate WRTV, where she spent 10 of her 20 years in television journalism as a reporter and anchor.

"Tanya was a broadcast pro. She was committed to excellence. She was a hard worker who was also a private person," Emmy award-winning WRTV anchor Rafael Sánchez wrote in tribute. "I was touched to see that among her personal pictures on her entryway wall she had one of us anchoring from the Indiana State Fair. Please send positive thoughts to her husband, their son, her father, her family and friends."

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After leaving WRTV in 2015, she became the Director of Public Relations and councilwoman for the town of Whitestown. She also served as the Vice President for Whitestown's District 3. In a statement, Whitestown Town Manager Katie Barr said Sumner "wasn't just a dedicated councilwoman, she was ingrained in our community and cared deeply for her family, friends, neighbors, and colleagues. Her love for this community was infectious and will be sorely missed." The Town of Zionsville wrote on Facebook, "Tanya was a true public servant, a wife, and mother, she will be missed by all. Both Whitestown and Zionsville are better because of her efforts."

Sumner is survived by her husband and a teenage child.

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