Elise Finch, a reporter from New York who passed away, was honored at a memorial service. Her friends and family remembered her as a passionate and “gracious” woman.
Friends and family gathered at Macedonia Baptist Church in her neighborhood of Mount Vernon on Tuesday to celebrate the life of the Emmy-winning weatherwoman for CBS affiliate WCBS-TV in New York, who died at a local hospital on July 16, 2023 at the age of 51. The cause of death has not been made known to the world yet.
Remembering Elise Finch
Dave Carlin and Maurice Dubois, who worked with Elise in the office at WCBS, were two of the people who spoke at the event on Tuesday. Dubois said that Elise was the personification of grace, which is also the name of her daughter, who she loved very much.
Dubois said, “[It was] the very thing that she stood for and that we saw every day.”
Speaking directly to Elise, Carlin said, “You shared your extraordinary talents with us with love, with humor, with wit and charisma. And I love you, and we all love you.”
Finch joined WCBS-TV in 2007 as a weekend meteorologist, according to her station biography. She later became part of the weekday morning news team with co-anchors Mary Calvi and Chris Wragge. This past September, she joined Cindy Hsu on the 9 a.m. newscast.
After Finch died, WCBS said in a tribute that she “fiercely” loved her family, which included her photographer husband Graig Henriques. They met at WCBS-TV, where they both worked, and were married for almost 10 years.
Finch was a “devoted mother to her daughter Grace,” according to their tribute. She was also a big fan of Janet Jackson and had a passion for the entertainment industry.
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Carlin talked about how he and Elise used to “geek out” over Michael Jackson. He said that Elise was just as “real” in person as she was on TV.
At Tuesday’s service, Carlin recalled “nerding out” over Jackson with Elise, who he said was as “authentic” in person as she was on screen.
“When Elise loved something, no matter what it was … she would talk a mile a minute,” Carlin recalled. “And you just saw that brain racing with happiness.”
Mount Vernon Mayor Shawyn Patterson-Howard announced that a tree will be planted in town in Elise’s memory and invited her family to help select a location. Tributes to Elise will play on the jumbotron at Memorial Field all day on Thursday, as well.
Speaking to Elise’s family, the mayor said, “We just want you to know that we love you, we honor you, and we miss Elise, but that we will continue to keep her name, her legacy, and her memory alive.”
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