Longtime WHIO anchor, UC grad Cheryl McHenry retires: 'It's bittersweet to say goodbye'

Yahoo

23-05-2025

After more than four decades with the station, news anchor Cheryl McHenry is saying goodbye to WHIO-TV.
McHenry, a University of Cincinnati grad, began working for the Dayton news station in 1981. She spent 44 years covering the Miami Valley before retiring May 21.
"It's bittersweet to say goodbye to our viewers as I prepare for my final newscast at 6 p.m. today," she wrote Wednesday on social media. "I've decided to retire after 44 years at WHIO. Thank you for allowing me the honor to serve you. Thank you for your cards (still haven't opened them all) and gifts."
"Cheryl has had a major impact on this organization, this community and certainly the operation at this station," Darren Moore, VP and General Manager of WHIO-TV and WHIO Radio, told Dayton Daily News. "She's excellent, a real pro. She's a true broadcaster − someone you can always trust. She also inspires people and gives encouragement. It's amazing to see someone of her stature and status take the time to make others feel special."
Although she spent most of her career covering news as an anchor and investigative reporter just north of the Queen City, McHenry's journalism career began in Cincinnati.
After graduating from Carroll High School in 1974, she earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in broadcasting from the University of Cincinnati.
"A bonus to being a student at UC: I could hop on the city bus and go to Reds games. I was a huge fan of the Big Red Machine of the 1970s," her WHIO biography reads.
During her senior year of college, she interned at WKRC radio.
"Almost everybody who got into TV in the '70s and early '80s came through radio, which I thought was great training," she said to Dayton Daily News.
After three more years in radio, she entered the television world as a reporter at WHIO in 1981.
Throughout her career, McHenry received several accolades, including nine Emmys for her breaking news coverage and a variety of other stories, such as the tragic Oregon District shooting.
In her final sign-off, the anchor couldn't help but shed a few tears.
"If you tuned in to see a grown woman cry, you've come to the right place," she said.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Longtime WHIO anchor Cheryl McHenry retires