A former Alabama news anchor who worked at stations in Huntsville and Birmingham has died after a battle with acute myeloid leukemia.
Melissa Riopka died Saturday, according to an announcement from WHNT 19 in Huntsville. She was 48.
“This week, I was driving through Cullman and thought about my old friend. I wondered how she was doing, thought about some of the time we spent together over the years, and never once thought that by Saturday she would be gone,” Jason Simpson, who worked with Riopka in Huntsville and is now chief meteorologist at WVTM 13 in Birmingham, wrote in a Facebook post. “Melissa was a light. There’s no doubt about that. She was always an encourager even when she was discouraged in herself. She poured herself out for her family that she loved dearly, and now she can rest.”
A Cullman native, Riopka attended the University of Alabama and worked at stations in Chattanooga and Birmingham before coming to Huntsville. In 2013, she joined News 19 in Huntsville as a morning reporter before being promoted in 2015 to co-anchor of the 5 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. weekday newscasts where she worked with long-time News 19 anchor Jerry Hayes. She later worked with News 19′s Steve Johnson on the morning newscast.
According to News 19, she worked with numerous community groups including the Better Business Bureau and Make-a-Wish.
Riopka left the station in March 22. She is survived by her husband and two children.
