We share the sad news that two members of the NBC News family died over the weekend, and both will be sorely missed.
Cardinal John Patrick Foley served as the Vatican’s chief of communications for 25 years and was a long time contributor to our broadcasts. He died peacefully in his home state of Pennsylvania early Sunday morning. He was 76. The clergyman appeared on TODAY several times, most recently during Pope Benedict’s U.S. visit.
We were also saddened to learn that Alan Harding, a recently retired manager of field operations at NBC, died suddenly on Friday, at the age of 62.
“Alan was one of the most upbeat, friendly, funny, generous, hard-working people you could ever meet,” said Matt. “[He was equal parts Santa Claus and Seinfeld. For viewers, it may be hard to understand what a ‘manager of field operations’ is, but in a nutshell, Alan was responsible for making the impossible possible.”
Alan was responsible for some of the most iconic moments from TODAY, as he served as technical manager for the last four Olympic Games, as well as nine installments of the "Where in the world is Matt Lauer” series.
Our hearts go out to the families and communities of these two beloved members of TODAY.