Denise D'Ascenzo Cooke (January 30, 1958 December 7, 2019) was an American television news anchorwoman at
WFSB
WFSB (channel 3) is a television station licensed to Hartford, Connecticut, United States, serving the Hartford–New Haven market as an affiliate of CBS. Owned by Gray Media, the station maintains studios on Denise D'Ascenzo Way in Rocky H ...
-TV in
Hartford, Connecticut
Hartford is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The city, located in Hartford County, Connecticut, Hartford County, had a population of 121,054 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ce ...
. She worked there for 33 years (19862019), becoming the longest-serving anchor at WFSB-TV. D'Ascenzo was also the longest-serving news anchor at any Connecticut television station.
Early life and career
Born in
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...
, D'Ascenzo grew up in suburban
Rockville, Maryland
Rockville is a city in and the county seat of Montgomery County, Maryland, United States, and is part of the Washington metropolitan area. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census tabulated Rockville's population at 67,117, making it the fourth ...
. The daughter of Salvatore Joseph D'Ascenzo (19252000) and Rita D'Ascenzo, she was one of four sisters.
At an early age, she became interested in journalism: at age 12, she started the first newspaper in her grammar school; she later on became editor-in-chief of her high school newspaper.
D'Ascenzo was the first person to receive a scholarship from the
American News Women's Club, which allowed her to attend a summer journalism program at the
Medill School of Journalism
The Medill School of Journalism (branded as Northwestern Medill; formally the Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications) is the journalism school of Northwestern University. It offers both undergraduate and graduat ...
at
Northwestern University
Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...
.
In 1980, during her senior year at
Syracuse University
Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York, United States. It was established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church but has been nonsectarian since 1920 ...
, D'Ascenzo landed her first television job at
WIXT-TV
WSYR-TV (channel 9) is a television station in Syracuse, New York, United States, affiliated with ABC. Owned by Nexstar Media Group, the station maintains studios on Bridge Street (off NY 290) in East Syracuse (a village of DeWitt), and its ...
in Syracuse, where she reported on the weather forecast segment. After graduating ''
magna cum laude
Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...
'' from Syracuse with
dual degree
Joint degrees are academic qualifications awarded through integrated curricula often jointly coordinated and delivered by multiple higher education institutions, sometimes across different countries. Graduates may receive a single qualification ...
s in
broadcast journalism
Broadcast journalism is the field of news and journals which are broadcast by electronic methods instead of the older methods, such as printed newspapers and posters. It works on radio (via air, cable, and Internet), television (via air, cable, ...
and
political science
Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...
, she began working full-time as a reporter for WIXT.
D'Ascenzo later worked in
St. Louis
St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...
as a reporter and a
talk show
A talk show is a television programming, radio programming or podcast genre structured around the act of spontaneous conversation.Bernard M. Timberg, Robert J. Erler'' (2010Television Talk: A History of the TV Talk Show', pp.3-4Erler, Robert (201 ...
host at
KSDK
KSDK (channel 5) is a television station in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, affiliated with NBC and owned by Tegna Inc. The station's studios are located on Market Street in Downtown St. Louis, and its transmitter is located in Shrewsbury, M ...
-TV. She then moved to
Cleveland
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...
as a news anchor for
WJKW-TV.
For 33 years, from 1986 until her death in 2019, she worked at
WFSB
WFSB (channel 3) is a television station licensed to Hartford, Connecticut, United States, serving the Hartford–New Haven market as an affiliate of CBS. Owned by Gray Media, the station maintains studios on Denise D'Ascenzo Way in Rocky H ...
-TV, becoming the longest-serving anchor at the station. At the time of her death, D'Ascenzo was also the longest-serving news anchor at any Connecticut television station.
Awards
D'Ascenzo won 12
Emmy Award
The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...
s, including one for Best Anchor. She also received two
Edward R. Murrow Awards, seven
Associated Press
The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City.
Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...
Awards, and a national
Gabriel Award
The Gabriel Awards are a Catholic honor awarded each year for excellence in broadcasting. They were started by the Catholic Academy for Communication Arts Professionals in 1965, and are currently administered by the Catholic Media Association.
...
for her work.
In 2013, she was inducted to the Silver Circle, an honor bestowed by the
National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences
The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS), also known as the National Television Academy until 2007, is an American professional service organization founded in 1955 for "the advancement of the arts and sciences of televisio ...
for her contributions to broadcasting.
In that same year, D'Ascenzo was awarded an
Honorary Doctorate
An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad hon ...
of
Humane Letters
Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture, including certain fundamental questions asked by humans. During the Renaissance, the term "humanities" referred to the study of classical literature and language ...
from
Quinnipiac University
Quinnipiac University ( ) is a private university in Hamden, Connecticut, United States. The university grants undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees. It also hosts the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.
History
What became ...
.
In 2015, she became the first woman to be inducted into the Connecticut Broadcasters Association Hall of Fame.
Personal life and death
D'Ascenzo was married to her husband Wayne Cooke (born 1955); they had one daughter, Kathryn.
On December 7, 2019, D'Ascenzo died in her sleep at her
Branford, Connecticut
Branford is a shoreline New England town, town located on Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States, about east of downtown New Haven, Connecticut, New Haven. The town is part of the South Central Connecticut Planning Regi ...
, home. She was 61 years old. Her family suspects that the cause of death was a heart attack.
On January 29, 2020, Connecticut Governor
Ned Lamont
Edward Miner Lamont Jr. ( ; born January 3, 1954) is an American businessman and politician serving since 2019 as the 89th governor of Connecticut. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as a Greenwich, Con ...
announced that he had signed a proclamation declaring Thursday, January 30, 2020, as "Denise D'Ascenzo Day" in the State of Connecticut in recognition of the news anchor's birthday.
Following her passing, the Denise D'Ascenzo Foundation was formed in 2020 to "support advances in medicine and health, women's and children's issues, and journalism studies."
See also
*
2019 deaths in American television
*
List of Syracuse University people
This is a list of people associated with Syracuse University, including founders, financial benefactors, notable alumni, notable educators, and speakers. Syracuse University has over 250,000 alumni representing all 50 states, the District of Colum ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:D'Ascenzo, Denise
1958 births
2019 deaths
American television news anchors
Journalists from Washington, D.C.
People from Hartford, Connecticut
Syracuse University alumni
American women television hosts
American people of Italian descent