MILWAUKEE - "She was a good person."

Those words about Melodie Wilson came from Joanne Williams, who saw decades of evidence of her goodness as a friend and television news colleague.

Former TODAY'S TMJ4 HD news anchor Melodie Wilson, who reached your television sets for decades as a consummate television journalist, then reached your hearts with her battle against breast cancer, has passed away from an incurable form of the disease.

She died at her River Hills home on Monday night.

Wilson, who worked with both TODAY'S TMJ4 and WITI-TV, had fought breast cancer for more than a decade and a half, and the disease had spread to other parts of her body.

"When she was diagnosed with breast cancer and she ultimately ended up leaving broadcasting, she focused not only on getting well herself, but also on helping to educate others and taking her experience and spreading the word," said TODAY'S TMJ4 HD 10:00 p.m. anchor Mike Jacobs. 

"In many ways, it was almost like her reporting job.  What she did as a reporter was get information and share it with others, and in the case of her breast cancer, she did essentially the same thing.  She got information, and shen she founded ABCD and shared that experience with others who were going through the same thing."

"When she was diagnosed, she went on the crusade of younger women having mammograms," said Williams, now the Vice President of Public Relations and Marketing at Cardinal Stritch University, to 620WTMJ's "Wisconsin's Morning News."

"As it came to pass, women do get earlier, and it's probably saved many lives because of that."

Joanne worked one cubicle away from Melodie, and after her breast cancer became public, Wilson would take phone call after phone call from others who were suffering from the disease.

"Women would call her after they would find find out about the diagnosis.  She would sit on the phone for a long time, and she would listen.  I would remember her sitting there, just listening, going 'Yes, I understand.'  That was impressive, too."

"She was giving back even before she started ABCD, because she saw the need.  As her battle went on, she continued to do that from her desk in the newsroom."

That battle included the push for mammograms for younger women, earlier than what federal medical officials would suggest - the age of 50.

"As it came to pass, women do get earlier, and it's probably saved many lives because of that."

Melodie's Career Path: from News Groundbreaker to Difference Maker

"I knew Melodie Wilson ever since we were young pup reporters at Channel 4," said Williams.

After working at the Mesabi Daily News and WDIO-TV in Duluth, Minn., Wilson joined TODAY'S TMJ4 in 1974, and eventually became the first female reporter to become a 10:00 p.m. anchor in the Milwaukee news market, working with John McCullough.

"There had been a single anchor male broadcast throughout the history of television. Melodie really earned the right to sit in that anchor chair through her reporting," explained Jacobs.

"She made a pretty seamless transition into the co-anchor chair next to John McCullough, where they teamed up on the 10:00 p.m. news for many, many years. I'm sure that wasn't easy, but in her typical fashion, she made it look simple."

"It was revolutionary to have a woman anchor a 10:00 p.m. newscast," said Williams.  "Of course, I was cheering in the background.  I was glad to see her do it."

Jacobs remembers her reporter's instincts and devotion to her work.

"She was really more of a traditional journalist, having come up through the print ranks.  That's where she first got started after college.  She was really into the beats of City Hall, county government and the school board, and politics as well."

She gave viewers on both TODAY'S TMJ4 and WITI-TV coverage that Wiliams described as insightful.

"I think Milwaukee benefited from her fair and balanced reporting on political issues, her fact checks on political advertising."

Melodie earned the Silver Circle award earlier this year for her work in journalism.

After her long career, she founded ABCD (After Breast Cancer Diagnosis), a group that helps women cope with breast cancer.

"I have never heard her get angry, and I've never seen her break down or be sad about herself," said her husband Wayne Oldenburg about her fight with the disease.

Williams: Melodie Wilson Was "A Good Buddy"

Beyond the television screen and the public battle with brest cancer, Wilson was a loving wife, mother and friend.

Williams told the story of how she would spend lots of time talking with her children from her newsroom desk, taking the time she couldn't do in person because she would work nights.

She would also give the shirt of her back - at least the maternity shirt she wasn't using.

"When I was pregnant with my first son, she gave me her hand-me-down maternity clothes, so I wore Melodie Wilson maternity clothes for my first pregnancy," said Williams, who even took tennis lessons with her.

"I'd like people to remember that she was a professional, that she had a great smile, and that she was a good buddy."

From Journal Broadcast Group CEO Doug Kiel:

"Melodie Wilson spent a lifetime serving this community on television and in her private life. We are deeply saddened by her passing, and our hearts are heavy for her family and friends."

Melodie is survived by Wayne and their four children.  She was 59 years old.

Funeral Arrangements

Funeral services for Melodie Wilson will be held Saturday.

Visitation will be held from 10 a.m. Saturday until the funeral service at noon, both at Elmbrook Church, 777 S. Barker Road, Waukesha. The public is invited to attend.

Private interment is planned at Forest Home Cemetery.

Memorials are suggested to ABCD, 6737 W. Washington St., Suite 3265, West Allis, WI, 53214.

Web site: www.abcdbreastcancersupport.org.