Former “Today” host Meredith Vieira is mourning the death of her husband, Richard Cohen.
Cohen had been battling pneumonia for two months leading up to his death on Christmas Eve, according to USA Today. He was 76 years old.
He had also been living with multiple sclerosis for 50 years and overcame two colon cancer diagnoses — once in 1999 and again in 2000, according to E! News.
Cohen’s death was initially reported by The Hudson Independent Jan. 5 before being confirmed on the “Today” show Jan. 7.
The three-time Emmy award-winning journalist was “surrounded by his family and love” at the time of his death, according to Hoda Kotb, who spoke with Vieira, 71, following his death.
“She was such a beautiful and devoted wife to Richard and he adored Meredith,” “Today” host Savannah Guthrie added of the couple.
“And hanging out with them, they were like the most fun and entertaining, irreverent, cool couple you could hang out with,” Guthrie said.
After a tribute, Kotb revealed that Cohen and Vieira’s three children — daughter Lily, 32, and sons Gabriel 34, and Benjamin, 36 — and new grandchild had visited their sick father around Thanksgiving.
“They were concerned they were going to lose him early, but instead they got a glorious month with their dad,” Kotb added, per Vieira.
Vieira found out about Cohen’s diagnosis on their second date
Vieira and Cohen met while working for CBS in the early 1980s and tied the knot in 1986, according to People.
In a 2018 interview with Yahoo Lifestyle, Cohen revealed that he told Vieira about his MS diagnosis on their second date.
“I told her about the illness, because I sort of learned the hard way to get it on the table. And she really didn’t blink,” Cohen said at the time.
Vieira, who was sitting by Cohen’s side throughout the interview, explained why she didn’t flinch at his diagnosis.
“I’ve always been of the school of thought that you could get hit by a bus the next day, any one of us could. It certainly wasn’t enough to scare me off,” Vieira said in 2018.
In a 2013 interview with Good Housekeeping, Vieira further explained that it was Cohen’s mother who showed her how to love and support someone with MS.
“I think about how his mother dealt with his dad, who also had MS. How great she was with him, and how loving and supportive. I took some cues from her,” she told the magazine.
Cohen, who was diagnosed with MS at the age of 25, kept his diagnosis a secret until he learned that a “secret sickness is not a happy way to live,” per Yahoo Lifestyle.
After realizing how “emotionally useful” writing could be, Cohen decided to write a book, titled “Blindsided,” about his experience with chronic illness.
Cohen went on to publish several more books about his illness and has been a major advocate for those living with the disease — as well as those who are in his wife’s shoes.
“Chronic illness is a family affair. Spouses have the burden of tending to the needs of a loved one, even when they would secretly rather push him out a window,” he wrote in his 2018 memoir, “Chasing Hope.”
“I knew they should not be treated as spectators when they are in the ring with us,” Cohen continued.
In 2011, Vieira — who was a co-anchor for “Today” since 2006 — retired from her broadcasting career to spend more time with her husband and children.
“Time is one of those weird things,” Vieira said of her decision at the time.
“You can never get enough of it, and it just keeps ticking away. And I know that I want to spend more of mine with my husband, Richard, and my kids,” she added.
According to The Hudson Independent, Cohen’s ashes will be scattered in a private ceremony on Cape Cod — which he considered his second home.
“It’s where Richard retreated all those years ago when he was first diagnosed with MS to grieve and then get up,” the outlet reported.
