WXYZ anchor Dave LewAllen to retire

WXYZ-TV (Channel 7) anchor Dave LewAllen is retiring, he announced on the air Wednesday night.

The weekday evening anchor for the Action News team said Jan. 25 was his 35th anniversary of joining the station as a sports reporter.

"This is the TV news station I grew up watching. It’s the one station I really wanted to work for in this business, and I've been truly blessed to spend the majority of my career here," LewAllen said during the broadcast. "But the time is right for a next chapter."

LewAllen said he plans to work through April.

He was a weekend sports anchor for years before switching to news in 2004, according to his biography on the Channel 7 website.

LewAllen serves as the anchor of 7 Action News at 6, 7 and 11. He created and hosted "Golf Michigan," which aired on WXYZ for four years; hosted specials including the Woodward Dream Cruise; and covered Super Bowls; the World Series; NHL and NBA Finals; as well as major golf championships, according to Channel 7.

Honors include winning four Emmys, including for coverage of a Detroit firestorm in 2010, and being named a Silver Circle recipient by the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences' Michigan chapter for his service in the broadcast industry, according to his biography.

The Central Michigan University graduate previously worked for WJBK-TV in Southfield and WJIM-TV (now WLNS-TV) in Lansing. The past president of the Detroit Sports Broadcasters Association also has experience in radio, covering sports for WJR-AM and CKLW-AM in Detroit, and was play-by-play voice of University of Detroit basketball, his biography said.

After the retirement announcement Wednesday, co-anchor Carolyn Clifford said LewAllen has had "an amazing career."

"We have loved working with you," she told him. "You have anchored this shift and done a fabulous job on weekends and right here in the main seat."

Sports director Brad Galli told him: "You’re a leader and you always have been. And this place will not be the same without you."

LewAllen is the latest in a string of broadcast departures in the Metro Detroit market.

Longtime weekend night anchor Sandra Ali announced Sunday she would be leaving WDIV-TV (Channel 4) for another opportunity.

The station earlier announced weather expert Paul Gross also would soon end his 40-year career there.

Last month, Jason Carr, host of WDIV-TV's daily mid-morning program "Live in the D," was terminated after remarks on-air.