Fort Myers Stations Pay Tribute to Jim Reif

By Kevin Eck 

Waterman Broadcasting’s Fort Myers stations, ABC affiliate WZVN and NBC affiliate WBBH, took some time out of their respective newscasts to remember the station’s shared director of meteorology Jim Reif who died yesterday from injuries suffered in a bicycling accident.

Many of Reif’s friends and colleagues remembered the Fort Myers meteorologist by telling stories about their time together or by giving their impressions of the man.

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Kansas City meteorologist Len Jennings from KMBC spoke about Reif in a video tribute. You can watch it after the jump.

“Aside from being a great meteorologist and mentor to all of us here at ABC7 and NBC2, you know, Jim was a lovable guy – a big teddy bear,” said WZVN meteorologist John Patrick.

WZVN anchor Jeff Butera wrote on his blog, “Through six presidencies, Jim Reif was a fixture here. A rock. A constant. Someone the people of our community could trust to be there and to be right. In short, Jim Reif was not your typical weatherman. He was better.”

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