Longtime New York City news anchor Michele Marsh has died

Michele Marsh, one of the women who achieved success in the male-dominated television news industry in the late 1970s and early 1980s, has died.

Marsh, 63, was surrounded by loved ones this week at her South Kent, Connecticut, home when she lost her seven-year battle with breast cancer, said her son, John Paschall.

The popular, five-time local Emmy Award winner was an anchor and correspondent on the CBS and NBC flagship stations in New York City for more than two decades.

Marsh, who was born in suburban Detroit and graduated from Northwestern University, worked at WABI-TV in Bangor, Maine, and KSAT-TV in San Antonio, Texas, before joining New York City stations WCBS in 1979 and WNBC in 1996. She left the industry in 2003.

"If you can believe it, she was even a better mother than she was a broadcaster," her son said.

As a small child, Paschall said, he would cry when his mom left for her late-night job. But that changed when he got a little older: He got to tag along with her, "sitting behind the teleprompter, being as quiet as possible," and he marveled at the constant stream of warm interactions she attracted.

"She always appreciated the love from her fans, her friends, her co-workers; it meant a lot to her," Paschall said. "In my heart, I never believed she was about the fame," but about "who she was as a person when the cameras were off."

Paschall, who works for NBC Sports, recently sent a special delivery to his mother: his own Emmy. He had kept it a surprise but quickly found himself awash in congratulations. Marsh, though ailing, had spread the news to countless friends.

"It means so much when your mom is proud of you," he said.

She also is survived by her husband, P.H. Nargeolet.