Jim Cummins (March 11, 1945 – October 26, 2007) was an

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television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

reporter for the

NBC News NBC News is the news division of the American broadcast television network NBC. The division operates under NBCUniversal Television and Streaming, a division of NBCUniversal, which is, in turn, a subsidiary of Comcast. The news division's var ...

network. He became a somewhat recognizable member of the network, having worked there for nearly thirty years.

Education

Cummins was born in

Cedar Rapids, Iowa Cedar Rapids () is the second-largest city in Iowa, United States and is the county seat of Linn County, Iowa, Linn County. The city lies on both banks of the Cedar River (Iowa River), Cedar River, north of Iowa City, Iowa, Iowa City and north ...

. He was a basketball player and member of the Regis Catholic High School 1962 state champion squad. From 1963 to 1967, Cummins attended

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

Medill School of Journalism The Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications is a constituent school of Northwestern University that offers both undergraduate and graduate programs. It frequently ranks as the top school of journalism in the Unite ...

and earned both his bachelor's and master's degrees. He was also a

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at for the Wildcats basketball team at NU.

Career

Cummins began his professional career at KGLO-TV in Mason City, Iowa, in 1969. From there, his career took him to

WOTV WOTV (channel 41) is a television station licensed to Battle Creek, Michigan, United States, serving West Michigan as an affiliate of ABC. It is owned by Nexstar Media Group alongside Grand Rapids–licensed NBC affiliate WOOD-TV (channel 8) an ...

(

Grand Rapids, Michigan Grand Rapids is a city and county seat of Kent County, Michigan, Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 198,917 which ranks it as the List of municipalities in Mi ...

WTMJ-TV WTMJ-TV (channel 4) is a television station in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States, affiliated with NBC. It is owned by the E. W. Scripps Company alongside Kenosha-licensed Ion Television station WPXE-TV (channel 55). WTMJ-TV's studios are loca ...

(

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...

), and WMAQ (

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

). He joined

in 1978 working out of their

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

bureau. In 1989, Cummins reopened NBC's Southwest bureau in

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

, becoming its correspondent. Over the years, he reported on various stories including U.S. political coverage, plane crashes, the

Iran hostage crisis On November 4, 1979, 52 United States diplomats and citizens were held hostage after a group of militarized Iranian college students belonging to the Muslim Student Followers of the Imam's Line, who supported the Iranian Revolution, took over t ...

, the

Salvadoran Civil War The Salvadoran Civil War ( es, guerra civil de El Salvador) was a twelve year period of civil war in El Salvador that was fought between the government of El Salvador and the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN), a coalition or ...

, the

Oklahoma City bombing The Oklahoma City bombing was a domestic terrorist truck bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States, on April 19, 1995. Perpetrated by two anti-government extremists, Timothy McVeigh and Terry N ...

, many hurricanes, floods, and tornadoes, and live coverage of the

Waco Siege The Waco siege, also known as the Waco massacre, was the law enforcement siege of the compound that belonged to the religious sect Branch Davidians. It was carried out by the U.S. federal government, Texas state law enforcement, and the U.S. mi ...

. Cummins' work manifested itself when he won an

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for his coverage of the Midwest floods in 1993. He also earned two National Emmy nominations for his coverage of

Hurricane Hugo Hurricane Hugo was a powerful Cape Verde tropical cyclone that inflicted widespread damage across the northeastern Caribbean and the Southeastern United States in September 1989. Across its track, Hugo affected approximately 2 million peop ...

and the Salvadoran Civil War. Cummins retired from his NBC position in 2007, but shortly after was diagnosed with cancer. He died at the Presbyterian Hospital of Plano on October 26 at age 62, and was buried at

Sparkman-Hillcrest Memorial Park Cemetery Sparkman-Hillcrest Memorial Park Cemetery is a multi-faith cemetery located at 7405 West Northwest Highway in North Dallas, Texas ( USA). It is owned by Service Corporation International. Among the notable persons interred here are: *Mary Kay Ash ( ...

in Dallas. Cummins was survived by his widow and six children.

Personal life

Jim Cummins had an extensive family consisting of his wife, Connie of Dallas; three daughters, Chrissy Cummins and Molly Cummins, both of Dallas, and Kim of

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; three sons, John Cummins of Dallas, Billy Cummins, a student of

University of Oklahoma The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two Territories became the state of Oklahom ...

, and Doug Cummins of

Waco Waco ( ) is the county seat of McLennan County, Texas, United States. It is situated along the Brazos River and I-35, halfway between Dallas and Austin. The city had a 2020 population of 138,486, making it the 22nd-most populous city in the st ...

; two brothers, Richard Cummins of

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and Bob Cummins of

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; and two grandchildren. He also coached youth baseball and basketball teams for his six children.NBC News Veteran Cummins Dies – TVWeek – News
/ref>

Molestation lawsuits

In 1962, Cummins, then a 17-year-old

altar boy An altar server is a laity, lay assistant to a member of the clergy during a Christian liturgy. An altar server attends to supporting tasks at the altar such as fetching and carrying, ringing the altar bell, helps bring up the gifts, brings up t ...

, alleged that he was sexually molested by his parish priest, Reverend William Roach. In 2002, his repressed history was reflected through Cummins's interview with a family dealing with a similar, situation. Cummins filed the first of fifteen lawsuits against the

Archdiocese of Dubuque The Archdiocese of Dubuque ( la, Archidiœcesis Dubuquensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in the northeastern quarter of the state of Iowa in the United States. It includes all the Iowa counti ...

and priests accused of child molestation.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cummins, Jim 1945 births 2007 deaths NBC News people American war correspondents American male journalists Medill School of Journalism alumni People from Cedar Rapids, Iowa Deaths from cancer in Texas Burials at Sparkman-Hillcrest Memorial Park Cemetery