Longtime TV meteorologist Geoff Fox passed away Tuesday night after a nearly decadelong battle with cancer, his wife said. He was 75.
Fox’s wife, Helaine, posted to his Facebook page Wednesday, expressing gratitude for the effusive public support for the beloved weatherman throughout his very public battle with the disease.
“I’m sorry to say Geoff lost his battle last night and passed away in his sleep. All the thoughts, prayers and memories you posted kept Geoff going these past few months,” she said. “He really was grateful for the connection he shared with all of you. As public of a life he lived, his wish was to be cremated with no fanfare. I will honor his wish. Though it will be impossible to answer everyone’s posts, I promise to read each and every one of them. Thank you for loving Geoff. He really loved all of you, too.”
Fox was a familiar face in homes throughout Connecticut for decades, beginning his career as a TV meteorologist in 1984.
He announced in September, again in one of the Facebook posts that catalogued updates about his health, that he was moving to hospice care after recent PET scans showed cancerous growths on his liver, lungs and pancreas, the advance of the pancreatic cancer he was first diagnosed with in 2016.
“The problem is I’m too weak for chemo or any treatment for these new life-sized perils,” Fox wrote, adding that, with support from his family, he made the “difficult yet logical decision” to enter home hospice care.
According to his social media posts, Fox is “frail and weak,” standing nearly 5 feet, 9 inches tall and weighing only 130 pounds. He said the treatment he has been receiving for the past nine years has been “cumulatively taxing.”
“There are times I’m too weak to stand,” he wrote. “Too weak for surgery with general anesthesia to help my voice (again). It’s the kind of thing you can’t imagine until you’re there yourself.”
At the time, he said he didn’t have pain or symptoms but his weight and strength continued to drop as time passed, he said. He first struggled to walk wit ha walker, then became unable to stand, he told his fans on Facebook.
But the support of his fans and his continued online interactions with them, along with the support of his wife and daughter, kept him going, he said.
Fox, in a post in September noted that he loved connecting with viewers and grateful for their affection.
“I was very well known. Some folks don’t like the fame or act differently. Not me. I have hugged hundreds, maybe thousands, of viewers,” he said. “Here’s the unseen part. Let’s say we’re having dinner at a diner. Helaine would whisper, “The people at the end table are talking about you.” That was my cue to go over and say hello. And I could tell this affected those table in a good way. In essence I was happy to be with you guys at virtually any time or place. You afforded me an unbelievable life which matched the fantasy I’d invented. I am very grateful.”