Remembering former WESH 2 News reporter Beth Powers Lamm

 Remembering former WESH 2 News reporter Beth Powers Lamm

Remembering former WESH 2 News reporter Beth Powers Lamm, Beth Powers Lamm (viewers knew her as Beth Powers) died Thursday following a courageous battle with cancer at 63 years old.

Beth and I worked together at WYOU-TV in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Pennsylvania, in the mid-80s.

I landed a job at WESH in 1987, and when we needed a second crew full-time to work on NASA’s effort to return to space — following the Challenger disaster — I recommended Beth.

She was thrilled! She was hired to work with our now-retired space reporter Dan Billow on the shuttle Discovery’s successful launch on Sept. 29, 1988, to rejuvenate the space program.

But WESH (“NewsCenter 2” back then) news management had new plans for Beth and brought her over from our Brevard County bureau so we could team up to anchor our station’s first-weekend Sunrise and Noon news programs.

That happened on Aug. 1, 1992, along with the late legendary meteorologist Marty Stebbins and occasional visits by the Garden Rebel, Robert Vincent Sims.

During our noon newscasts, Beth and I enjoyed “schooling” (Um, not really) a fledgling sportscaster to prep him for the big time at ESPN: Stuart Scott! (BOO-YAH!)

When viewers watched Beth, I’m sure they saw someone with a warm smile, but they also sensed that she was a diligent broadcaster who worked hard to ensure she was reporting facts.

She also had fun during our lighter moments, co-hosting telethons and working the crazy Church Street Station scene on New Year's Eve when WESH would broadcast live from the popular downtown venue.

She was part of our “gang” of young journalists in Scranton, much like the “Elaine Benes” character played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus on the sitcom Seinfeld, which is comically coincidental.

While anchoring a noon show on WESH TV, she interviewed the not-yet-famous comedian Jerry Seinfeld via satellite in our studio to promote the show’s debut in July 1989.

Beth had never heard of Seinfeld, and to begin the Q&A in spectacular fashion by introducing Jerry as “Mr. Steinfield.” When I later pointed out to her that she had mispronounced his name, she casually said, “Nobody ever heard of that guy, so who’s going to watch that show anyway?”

That was 100% Beth! We grew closer when she asked my wife Mary Ann and I if she could be at the hospital for the birth of our oldest son, Ryan.

I can still see her shocked face, pressed against the glass of the delivery room door as she heard Ryan’s first cries and the immense joy she later felt holding our first of three sons.

Beth gave up TV in the mid-1990s after meeting the love of her life (Jim, a Navy doctor! And a much better golfer than me…) in Orlando and moving to South Carolina, where she was a successful realtor.

While we did not speak often, we kept in touch through social media. Seeing her terrific son and daughter grow up, I know she was perfect for motherhood (and recently, grandmotherhood).

In all, she gave a decade of her life to our industry, most of those years in Orlando. I’m confident WESH viewers were better informed by Beth’s reporting.

I’m not so confident I’ll be able to soon get over learning the news that she’s left our world, leaving an unfillable void.