Heather Pick (September 12, 1970"United States Public Records, 1970-2009," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KBC3-DWC : 23 May 2014), Haeather Jp Cygan, Residence, Hilliard, Ohio, United States; a third party aggregator of publicly available information. – November 7, 2008) was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

television

news anchor A news presenter – also known as a newsreader, newscaster (short for "news broadcaster"), anchorman or anchorwoman, news anchor or simply an anchor – is a person who presents news during a news program on TV, radio or the Internet. ...

as well as an activist on behalf of

breast cancer Breast cancer is cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipple, a newly inverted nipple, or a re ...

awareness and

juvenile diabetes Type 1 diabetes (T1D), formerly known as juvenile diabetes, is an autoimmune disease that originates when cells that make insulin (beta cells) are destroyed by the immune system. Insulin is a hormone required for the cells to use blood sugar for ...

. She began her career in newscasting at

WREX-TV Urdnot Wrex is a fictional character in BioWare's ''Mass Effect'' franchise, who serves as a party member (or "squadmate") in the first game of the ''Mass Effect'' trilogy. He is a krogan, an alien race near-sterilised by other galactic races f ...

Rockford, Illinois Rockford is a city in Winnebago County, Illinois, located in the far northern part of the state. Situated on the banks of the Rock River, Rockford is the county seat of Winnebago County (a small portion of the city is located in Ogle County). ...

before moving in 2002 to

Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, and t ...

where she was the morning and noon news anchor for

WBNS-TV WBNS-TV (channel 10) is a television station in Columbus, Ohio, United States, affiliated with CBS. It is owned by Tegna Inc. alongside the company's sole radio properties, WBNS (1460 AM) and WBNS-FM (97.1). The stations share studios on Twin R ...

Early life

Born in 1970, Pick was raised in

Platteville, Wisconsin Platteville is the largest city in Grant County in southwestern Wisconsin. The population was 11,836 at the 2020 census, up from 11,224 at the 2010 census. Much of this growth is likely due to the enrollment increase of the University of Wisc ...

as one of seven children in her family. Her father worked for a lumber company, her mother as a homemaker. She was a graduate of the

University of Wisconsin–Platteville University of Wisconsin–Platteville (UW–Platteville) is a public university in Platteville, Wisconsin. Part of the University of Wisconsin System, it offers bachelor's and master's degrees. The university has three colleges that serve over ...

. She became a news anchor at WREX after an internship there, staying for almost 10 years in Rockford.

Career

While at WREX, she met her husband Joe Cygan, a Chicago-area native and great-grandson of Chicago mayor

DeWitt Clinton Cregier DeWitt Clinton Cregier (June 1, 1829 - November 9, 1898) served as Mayor of Chicago, Illinois (1889–1891) for the Democratic Party. Early career Cregier worked as an engineer with the City of Chicago, and was awarded, in 1875, and in 1876, ...

,Joe Cygan biodata
who was also employed by the station. After moving to

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

, she worked closely with

Jack Hanna Jack Bushnell Hanna (born January 2, 1947) is a retired American zookeeper and a former director emeritus of the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium. "Jungle Jack" was director of the zoo from 1978 to 1992, and is viewed as largely responsible for elevat ...

of the

Columbus Zoo and Aquarium The Columbus Zoo and Aquarium is a non-profit zoo located near Powell in Liberty Township, Delaware County, Ohio, United States, north of the city of Columbus. The land lies along the eastern banks of the O'Shaughnessy Reservoir on the Sciot ...

, even appearing on an episode of ''

Late Show with David Letterman The ''Late Show with David Letterman'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on CBS, the first iteration of the The Late Show (franchise), ''Late Show'' franchise. The show debuted on August 30, 1993, and was produced by ...

'' as Hanna's assistant.WBNS 10TV: Heather Pick on The Late Show
The Columbus Zoo and Aquarium is dedicating a bench near the park entrance in her honor.WBNS 10TV: Jack Hanna Remembers Heather Pick
/ref> Pick worked alongside actress

Mary Tyler Moore Mary Tyler Moore (December 29, 1936 – January 25, 2017) was an American actress, producer, and social advocate. She is best known for her roles on ''The Dick Van Dyke Show'' (1961–1966) and ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'' (1970–1977), which ...

in support of the

Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation JDRF is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization that funds type 1 diabetes (T1D) research, provides a broad array of community and activist services to the T1D population and actively advocates for regulation favorable to medical research and approval o ...

. In 2007, Pick recorded an album title
"Circle of Support"
A collection of original and cover songs all sung by Pick, the CD was released through by the organizatio
A Christmas to Cure Cancer

Death

Heather died of

on November 7, 2008 at home in

. She continued working for WBNS during much of her illness and appeared on air for the last time in early October 2008.WBNS 10TV: A Message from Heather Pick

References

External links

Rockford Register Star: Former Rockford TV anchorwoman Pick dies
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pick, Heather 1970 births 2008 deaths American television reporters and correspondents Deaths from breast cancer in Ohio Mass media people from Columbus, Ohio People from Platteville, Wisconsin Journalists from Ohio Activists from Ohio 20th-century American journalists