Katie Couric Speaks About Grief and Moving on After Losing Loved Ones to Cancer

Katie Couric lost both her husband, Jay, and her sister, Emily, to cancer within only a few years of one another. The legendary broadcast journalist sat down to speak with CURE® about the devastating loss of her loved ones and shared how she moved past her grief.

Couric’s husband passed away from colorectal cancer when their two daughters were only 6 and 2 years old. “It’s really hard to describe the kind of heartbreak that ensued after he passed away,” recalled Couric. “Our hopes and dreams, what I thought was going to be a long and happy life together just vanished into thin air after his nine-month battle.”

Couric was then shocked when her sister, who had delivered the eulogy at Jay’s funeral just a few short years prior, called with the heartbreaking news that she had pancreatic cancer that spread to her liver. Emily Couric passed away from the disease in 2001.

Despite losing two beloved family members, Couric says she was determined to carry on. “You have to rebuild your life,” she said. “We’re all terminal. I wanted to try to have a full and happy life even if it meant doing so without my husband. I had two little girls who were depending on me, so I didn’t really have the luxury or the time to put the covers over my head and give up. I think people find a way to go on because they have to go on and they have no choice but to go on.”