Jean Rather, an artist and wife of the longtime CBS news anchor Dan Rather, has died. She was 89.
The news was announced by her family in a statement posted on social media. “Today is the saddest of days for Dan and the extended Rather family,” it began.
“Jean Rather, Dan’s wife, passed away at their home in Austin, Texas, early this morning. She had been on hospice care for some time, but the news still comes as a shock for those of us who knew and loved her.”
Her cause of death was given as cancer, and she was described as “an incredible wife, mother, friend, and artist — and a true Texan.”
She was born Jean Goebel in Smithville, Texas on September 7, 1935. She graduated from a local public school and quickly began working, meeting her soon-to-be husband Dan Rather at a Houston radio station. They married in 1957, and over their 67 years together lived in Dallas, Washington DC, London, and New York.
For eight years, Jean Rather served as the Painter Member and the Vice Chair of the Art Commission of the City of New York. She had attended art classes at American University and Mary Mount Manhattan College and became an accomplished artist whose paintings and collages were shown in galleries and private collections across the United States.
In 2004, Dan Rather made headlines around the world when, at the age of 73, he retired as America’s most famous newsman. Even after giving up the prominent position, he continued reporting. “I have always been, and remain, a ‘hard news’ investigative reporter at heart,” he said in a statement at the time. “I now look forward to pouring my heart into that kind of reporting full time.” He was the subject of the 2023 documentary Rather.
In 2021, the couple returned to live in Texas on a full-time basis. In an obituary published by the family, Jean was described as “a steadfast advisor and rock of true Texas grit during every storm. She was also the kind of wife who could meet presidents, kings and queens, draft dodgers, criminals, and corporate suits every day with equal ease and a stunning smile.”
She is survived by her husband, Dan; son Danjack and his partner, Ann Prunty, and grandson Martin in New York; daughter Robin and her partner, Mike Marler, and grandson Andy in Austin; and many members of the extended Wallace, Zimerhanzel, and Rather families.
