Fred Mooke passed away Friday night.

The end of an era for Miami TV came Friday night with the passing of Fred Mooke at Baptist Hospital in South Miami. Fred was 80 years old (young) and was the last of the Ralph Renick, Ruth Sperling, Bob Weaver, Fred Mooke quartet of the original Sand In My Shoes Miami TV news.

These four created TV news in Miami and influenced TV news all over the country. Dozens of network reporters passed through Miami and cut their teeth, and got a few knocked out, working under them.

I was blessed to have worked with all four of them in the early 1980s at WTVJ, but as a sixth grader in the Highview Elementary School in Nanuet, New York I got to watch Weaver the Weatherman on WCBS Channel 2 for several years before he returned to Miami for the rest of his long, long career.

Ralph was the dean of all TV anchormen. Ruth was the iron firsted boss, mother confessor, and executioner in the newsroom. Fred was the assignment editor who knew everyone in town and knew everything in town when there was a time you could know everyone and everything.

God bless them all.

edited to add: Since this was originally added, I have heard from many of my former colleagues, some who are still in the business today, and some who have moved on to other careers or have retired themselves, and all remember Fred fondly as the last of The Old Guard. That was the term used to describe the original Wometco employees -- The Old Guard -- who built the business and the traditions that built a giant media company until the late 1980s when the company was broken up by Wall Street investment bankers.

MEMORIAL SERVICE

Miami-Dade Community College's Kendall Campus Writing Center, where Fred worked, will be honoring him this Wednesday, Feb. 8th at noon with a memorial service. It will be in room 2207. Everyone is welcome.