ABC Legend to Retire After 35 Years

Roz will do her last broadcast on April 5.

ABC7‘s Roz Varon is retiring after 35 amazing years at the Chicago station. Her final day at the station will be Friday, April 5. Varon made history as Chicago’s first TV traffic reporter on the morning news, as well as one of the first TV traffic reporters in the country. “Roz’s expertise and connection to our viewers are the reasons she has been our top traffic and transportation reporter for more than three decades,” said President and General Manager John Idler in a statement. “Chicagoans know they can count on Roz to avoid a jam. We applaud Roz as she puts an exclamation point on an outstanding career.”

Varon joined the station as a morning traffic anchor in 1989. Her role expanded to providing coverage of the transportation beat. She later was a staple on, “Weekender,” her series featuring a weekly roundup of metro Chicago events. She also published “On the Road with Roz: Adventures in Travel and Life,” a collection of words and images detailing travels on Route 66 and around the world with her family.

Her work has been well received. She has won Emmy Awards in traffic reporting, specialty programming, spot news, and features. She has also been honored with Peter Lisagor Awards, including one for “Weekender.” for her work outside of the station, The Girl Scouts recognized her as a role model with their Girl Scouts of the USA Thanks Badge. As a breast cancer survivor and advocate, she won the Illinois Broadcasters Association’s Silver Dome Award for her breast cancer special, “Faces of Inspiration.”

Varon continued to push cancer prevention and awareness. She’s a motivational speaker, animal lover, she volunteers much of her time to the Anti-Cruelty Society.

Varon received a B.A. in Broadcast Communications from Columbia College. She lives in the western suburbs of Chicago with her husband, is a mother, and animal mother.