We have some sad news to report for long-time OKC TV news viewers.
Last night, an Ogle Mole let us know that Tyler Suiters – the lead evening anchor for KOCO Channel 5 during the early to mid-aughts – passed away following a three-year-long battle with ALS. He was 53 years old.
Our thoughts go out to his family, friends, and former colleagues.
Although we lost track of him over the years, Tyler will always be linked with TLO canon.
Way back in 2007, a simpler time in human existence when people didn’t post and share every aspect of their existence on social media, we’d occasionally publish and lampoon photos of local TV news types. This was back when the Internet was looser and more fun and people didn’t care if you roasted famous people.
One day, someone emailed some pics from a KOCO house party and we published them on the site. One of the photos included Tyler Suiters yucking it up with a KOCO producer. The photo provided an unfiltered look at a local TV news personality that viewers rarely got to see at the time. It also introduced the local world to Tyler’s massive man-boob:
Whether it was an optical illusion or remnant of a parasitic twin, from that day forward, Tyler Suiters Man-Boob became an unforgettable TLO reference – one that was so memorable that when an Ogle Mole emailed me to inform of us of Tyler’s sad passing, they literally included “Man Boob” in the subject line.
Tyler will also forever be linked to TLO history.
Back in 2008, Tyler left KOCO to take a gig for some Ackerman McQueen branded-news project for the oil and gas industry. Someone tipped us off on the news, and Tony wrote a quick little post about it. The significance was lost on us at the time, but it would become our very first news report about the comings and goings of the Oklahoma news media scene, something that’s grown into a specialty beat that we’re still lazily covering today.
Once again, our thoughts go out to Tyler’s family, friends, and former colleagues. From all accounts, he was a really good dude and will be missed.
RIP.
