After 30 years, Mary Baer and John Gaughan set to retire from Jacksonville's WJXT-TV

After more than 30 years behind the anchor desk, Mary Baer is set to leave News4Jax/WJXT-TV.

And she’s not alone: chief meteorologist John Gaughan is retiring, too.

“The impact John and Mary have left on this community for the last three decades has been immeasurable,” the station’s vice president and general manager, Terri Cope Walton, said in a news release announcing the pair's retirement Thursday afternoon. “They have been part of the fabric of North Florida and South Georgia and helped to lay the foundation for excellence and commitment to community that The Local Station is committed to providing. They will truly be missed by the entire News4JAX family.”

Their departures — scheduled for May 31 — will mark the end of an era at the station and TV news in Jacksonville.

Baer and Gaughan came to the station in 1992, joining anchors Tom Wills and Deborah Gianoulis, sports anchor Sam Kouvaris and chief meteorologist George Winterling, creating arguably the longest-running newscast team in Jacksonville history.

Gianoulis retired from WJXT in 2003 and Winterling in 2009. Kouvaris left the station in May 2018 after his contract expired earlier that year.

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Baer and Wills have anchored the station’s top newscasts together for 20 years.

“I will always treasure the time spent with friends at 4, and sharing this time with you, our loyal viewers. And to those of you I’ve had the privilege to interview through the years, thank you for sharing your joy, your pain and your insight,” Baer wrote in announcing her departure. “It’s truly been an honor. You’ve taught me so much.”

Baer came to Jacksonville after working as an anchor and reporter in Columbus, Ohio, after beginning her career in Medford, Ore.

"I am eager to begin a new chapter of my life, spending more time with my husband and our family, traveling, riding my horse and working with the therapeutic riding program I helped start on our farm. You could say, I'll be riding off into the sunset! But I will always treasure the time I've had on 4,” Baer said in a statement released by WJXT.

Gaughan took over the chief meteorologist position upon Winterling’s retirement some 14 years ago.

“It is from the bottom of my heart that I thank you all. All the emails, messages, phone calls, snail-mail letters, fist pumps, and handshakes, as many told me of your personal stories of tragedy and triumph and extreme weather events you had experienced,” Gaughan wrote.

Before coming to Jacksonville, Gaughan worked as a meteorologist in Columbia, S.C., and in Orlando.

“I’m so thankful for a 40-year career in broadcast meteorology, and 30-plus years at one of the great local television stations of all time, the Graham Media Group owned station, WJXT-TV.”

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: News4jax anchors Mary Baer, John Gaughan leaving WJXT-TV