KABB news director Greg Koelfgen passed away at his home in New Braunfels, TX on Monday. The cause of death is currently unknown. He was 53.
“Greg was a consummate journalist. He was not just a news director, he was a mentor,” John Seabers, general manager of the San Antonio Fox-affiliate, told TVSpy. “There’s just such a void at the station right now.”
“We are all devastated,” KABB reporter Yami Virgin said today via email. “He is the best boss any of us have had.”
Koelfgen started at KABB in 1995, first working as an executive producer before moving on to become news director. During his time at the Fox-affiliate, Koelfgen helped launch “Fox News First,” the station’s morning newscast, and oversaw the growth of its nightly news audience.
“Greg Koelfgen was an amazing news director,” KABB sports director Chuck Miketinac told TVSpy in an email, “but what was most incredible about the man was that he was an even better human being.”
Miketinac explained how Koelfgen was able to overcome childhood adversity to become a first-class leader:
The guy grew up in a very unstable, broken, environment, yet despite that, figured out a way to become a tremendous father and husband to his wife and two daughters. In fact, Greg was a role model in that regard to a lot of us in this newsroom; kind of our moral compass, if you will. I’m not sure where he got his husband and fathering skills from; all I know is you’d have been lucky to call that guy “father” or “husband”, or “friend” for that matter.
No job too big, no job too small. That was Greg’s credo. I can’t tell you how many times he grabbed a camera and went out and shot high school football games for our sports department. How many news directors would do that? It was all in an effort to make Fox San Antonio the very best it could be, and that leadership by example rubbed off on all of us who were lucky enough to work for him.
He is survived by his wife, Donna, and daughters Quinn and Hayley.
“He adored his family and took great pride in the accomplishments of his daughters,” said Alex Garcia, KABB’s Chief Meteorologist. “I am proud to have been his friend and will miss him greatly.”
Here’s a video posted to YouTube of Koelfgen discussing what it means to be a news director: