Beloved anchor Cynthia Newsome’s funeral speaks to her service, storytelling in KC
Longtime Kansas City news anchor Cynthia Newsome was known by many as a passionate journalist who told difficult stories with grace, a friend you could call anytime, and a community builder who inspired young women to tap into their talents.
Newsome’s older brother, Clarence Gunn, remembered her Saturday as both the strong woman she had become — who had a public battle with cancer — and the little sister he used to help put on socks and shoes.
“I wasn’t around as much as I could or should have been,” Gunn said. “But I’ve heard stories of her wonderful friends and families and colleagues she had, and I knew she was safe, loved and successful.”
Newsome’s life was honored by numerous family, friends, colleagues and community members who spoke during her funeral at the Church of the Resurrection in Leawood on Saturday.
The service was grounded in themes of lasting impact. It highlighted the ways Newsome touched lives beyond her anchor desk and newsroom that’s now named after her at KSHB 41. It was filled with stories of life change through the organization she founded, Awesome Ambitions.
And perhaps most importantly to Newsome, the service centered on the report her pastor, Rev. Darron LaMonte Edwards Sr., said she believed in most — the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
“I’m here to declare … today there’s another report being recorded, and God’s report is greater than grief, greater than your pain, and greater than death,” Edwards said during the eulogy, which followed a performance of “The Goodness of God.”
Cynthia Newsome’s lasting impact
Cynthia Elaine Newsome was born Nov. 9, 1958. She died of cancer May 19.
She grew up in a military family that moved often. She graduated from Niceville High School in Florida, where she founded and edited the school newspaper.
She also won the Miss Niceville High School Beauty Pageant, the first Black woman to do so, according to her brother, Gunn.
Gunn said Cynthia asked a lot of questions growing up. Her favorite was, “Why?” he said, which he couldn’t always answer.
“I didn’t know it at the time. She was a budding investigative reporter,” Gunn said.
Newsome attended Oral Roberts University, where she majored in journalism. She started her professional career working at a local cable station while still in college. She spent 13 years in Oklahoma City as a reporter before joining KSHB in 1997.
She spent 25 years anchoring and reporting in Kansas City before becoming the station’s community relations director.
During her time at KSHB, she was known for her tenacity and fervor for journalism, but even more than that, she worked hard to be a good friend, according to her editor at KSHB, Kathleen Choal.
“Her legacy of kindness, journalistic passion, of giving back, and loving with your whole self is a legacy we will never forget,” Choal said.
Newsome’s journalism won various awards throughout her career, including an induction into the Silver Circle by the Mid-America Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, the organization that awards local Emmys.
A tribute video made by KSHB was played during her celebration of life, showing the impact she had on her colleagues and the community.
Videos from her family, Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas and Rep. Emmanuel Cleaver also honored her legacy.
Newsome was a community builder
Off-air, Newsome co-founded the nonprofit Awesome Ambitions with Star journalist Angela Curry. The organization focused on college and career readiness for Black and brown girls.
One of the girls Newsome mentored, Riyan Jones, said she overcame shyness and discovered her passion for social justice through Awesome Ambitions.
Jones credited Newsome’s influence and mentorship as a stepping stone for an internship she has this year at the Brennan Center for Justice.
“Cynthia never asked us to become something she wasn’t already herself,” Jones said. “She embodied everything that she taught us to be.”
Several other people spoke at the celebration of life, including Denise White, a friend she met at church. White said that Newsome went out of her way to make her feel welcome, week after week.
“Because of Cynthia, I became a better friend to others. … Cynthia taught me empathy …selflessness … nurturing … to be authentic by the way she was genuine and sincere in her relationships,” White said.
A program handed out at the funeral said Newsome’s “legacy of faith, love, courage, and service will continue to inspire generations to come.”
She led with grace, compassion and purpose, the program said.
Sharing one of his last memories with Newsome, Gunn recounted being at the hospital when she entered hospice care.
“As I went to tuck her in, I saw that she didn’t have socks on,” Gunn said. “I found her socks and put them on, and whispered in her ear, ‘Your big brother’s here, putting your socks on again.’”
“The beginning and the end,” he said.
Previous reporting by The Star’s Eric Adler and Eleanor Nash contributed.
