‘He was the best on staff’: Former Columbus news anchor dies at 50
A former Columbus TV news anchor has died.
WTVM announced the news of John Lyles’ death on its website late Monday afternoon. WRBL also reported it Monday evening.
According to the stations, Lyles was 50 and working as director of the Broward County Schools transportation department when he died in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. No cause of death was reported, but WRBL said it was unexpected.
Funeral arrangements also weren’t available before this story’s deadline.
Lyles worked at WTVM from 1994-2001 and had two stints at WRBL, where he was a videographer in the 1980s and 1990s and returned as a morning anchor in 2016.
After he was hired to be transportation director for the Muscogee County School District in September 2016, he resigned the following day.
According to his resume, Lyles also was transportation specialist for the MCSD from September 2003 to December 2005, transportation services manager for the Metra transit system in Columbus from March 2001 to September 2003, the owner of a Subway sandwich shop franchise in Columbus from January 1998 to January 2004 and government reporter for WLTZ in Columbus from November 1991 to November 1992.
WTVM news anchor Jason Dennis, who worked with Lyles from 1999-2001, told the Ledger-Enquirer in an email, “He had been in the TV news business several more years than me, so he was someone I looked up to. I learned from his news anchoring style.”
Dennis described Lyles as “friendly, laid-back and very professional. He knew a lot of people in the Chattahoochee Valley, and that helped him tell better stories. . . . He will be missed.”
Former WTVM news anchor Chuck Leonard, who retired in December, told the L-E in a Facebook message that Lyles graduated from Kendrick High School.
Leonard said Lyles was “a hard working, driven individual. He was a good reporter and anchor who always wanted to be better. He dressed impeccably and was a man of even temperament.”
WRBL news anchor Teresa Whitaker started at the station in 1987 as a general assignment reporter while Lyles was a videographer.
“He was the best on staff,” she told the L-E in a text message. “As reporters, we often fought over him even though we had other photographers. There was vast difference in the video he shot for our stories than the other photographers. He was a stand up guy with an incredible work ethic. He was friendly, very slow to anger, funny and just incredibly talented. . . . His sudden passing sent a shock wave to those of us who became better reporters because we were blessed to have worked with him.”
Lisa Goodwin, deputy city manager of Columbus, told the L-E in an email that Lyles “was well spoken and saw transit as a way to improve lives and did not want transit to be a barrier. He always carried that smile and made others feel good in his presence. He was very personable and genuine.”
This story was originally published February 25, 2020 at 9:54 AM.
