CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Bill Walker, who has anchored television news longer than anyone else on the air in Charlotte, retired from daily anchoring on WSOC-TV on June 8.

Prior to his final broadcast as anchor, "Eyewitness News" and viewers paid tribute to Walker for his 37-year career with WSOC-TV, Charlotte’s local news leader.

“Bill has been anchoring television news longer than anyone else on the air in Charlotte today,” said WSOC-TV Vice President and General Manager Lee Armstrong. “He’s done so as a consummate professional, earning the trust and respect of his audience and his peers. We will miss him as a colleague, but wish him nothing but the happiness ahead that he richly deserves.”

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Joining WSOC in 1968 as a radio news anchor, Walker soon moved into television for the company. In his distinguished years with the station, he covered the 400th anniversary of North Carolina with live broadcasts from England, as well as the dismantling of the Berlin Wall. He traveled to Egypt for a documentary on Ramses the Great. He has interviewed a wide variety of newsmakers, including evangelist Billy Graham, former UNC basketball coach Dean Smith, and chef Julia Child. Numerous political office holders and candidates have reached WSOC viewers through interviews with Walker, including Sam Ervin, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George Wallace, Jesse Helms, Terry Sanford, Jim Hunt, John Edwards, and George W. Bush. In 1976, Walker interviewed President Gerald Ford in the Oval Office at the White House.

Over the years, Walker has been the recipient of numerous awards, including a national award for public service from Sigma Delta Chi, the Society of Professional Journalists. He received an Emmy Award in 1998 for Best Newscast. The Scripps Howard Foundation honored Walker in 1995 with its National Award for Journalistic Excellence for Carolina Crime Solutions, a WSOC-TV initiative to help people living in high-crime neighborhoods. He also won a first place award from the Atlanta Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists for Carolina Crime Solutions. In 1994, the Mid-South Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences honored Walker with its Silver Circle Award, a special “Emmy” for his career accomplishments in broadcasting.

A native of Fountain, NC, Walker has lived his entire life in the state. He is a 1965 graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where he earned a degree in Radio, Television, and Motion Pictures and Political Science. He and his wife Eva May raised their two sons, David and Evan, in Charlotte.

Walker has been active in many community organizations during his years at WSOC-TV, including the Mecklenburg Mental Health Association, Kids Voting, and the Charlotte Area Fund. He was elected twice as chairman of the Board of Deacons at Myers Park Baptist Church.

“I can truly say that I have always loved my work,” Walker said. “I am lucky to have worked with so many talented people over the years. Our success has been achieved as a team, and as friends lifting up each other. It is those friends I will miss as I move on.”

Since 1990, Channel 9 Eyewitness News has been the local news market leader. Also in 1990, Debi Faubion joined the WSOC-TV news team as Walker’s co-anchor. She now becomes Charlotte’s longest-tenured newsperson anchoring the market’s local evening news.

Beginning Monday, Vince Coakley, a ten-year veteran anchor of WSOC-TV and WAXN-TV will join Kim Brattain anchoring Channel 9 Eyewitness News at 5 p.m. Walker will continue to anchor the 6 p.m. and 11p.m. broadcasts with Faubion until his departure in June.