Here we ago again…
Yet another well-known Kansas City personality – Fox 4 weather wonk Don Harman – has taken his own life.
"He was a really good guy, a funny guy and he had a nice edge to him," says fellow meteroologist Gary Lezak of KSHB TV, Channel 41. "He’s one of the most popular personalities in the city – he just suffered from depression. He knew weather really well. I’m in shock and I’m going to miss him. It’s just incredible – I almost can’t believe it. And he leaves two families behind; his Fox 4 family and his own family."
Harman joined Fox 4 in 1999, following Lezak’s departure and became an integral part of Fox 4’s morning crew with Mark Alford and Loren Halifax.
Oddly, just prior to the station announcing Harman’s death, its Web site pitched a coming story entitled, "Holiday Can Bring Stress, Sadness."
Indeed.
amazed at the outpouring…
these guys are not just weathermen…they appear to be interwined into their viewers lives.
I read some of the facebook comments and people became so attached to this young man
and left some truly heartfelt comments.
truly truly sad. Pray for his family. Pray for him. He is now at peace.
People today are under such incredible stress and pressure. This is happening more than
we know. sometimes those pressures become so great that they can’t be handled.
He leaves behind a child. God bless that child.
The best way to deal with heartache and loss…
…is head on. Thank you for this brief but candid article.
Coda
This is as shocking as Russ Johnson’s death was. WOW! Rest In Peace Don and may God Bless You. My condolences and prayers to all his co-workers, friends, fans and most of all his family. Please know and have faith without question or judgement that he is at peace.
Hearne Christopher is a horrible human being.
Candid? Hardly. Callous, cold and, in typical Hearne Christohet fashion, designed to be as hurtful and destructive as possible. No wonder you are such a well respected member of the Kansas City journalism community. Way to make a difference in the lives of yet another Kansas City family. I’m sure they truly appreciate your ‘candor’ during this terrible time. Go crawl back under whatever rock you slithered out from.
To the above
What are you talking about? Hearne wrote a very professional story that was in no way hurtful. You must be carrying a grudge.
First and Last Exposure
I had never read a Christopher Hearne, Jr. article, and I’ll try to avoid doing so in the future…”Here we go again…” What do you mean, exactly? It sounds like you feel personally inconvenienced by Harman’s suicide. If what you really meant was that KC is experiencing yet another tragic loss, you missed the mark. Your conclusion is similarly hazy. If your intended meaning wasn’t fully communicated, you might want to revise.
RIP DON
Very sad to hear this, Don made me laugh many many times in the morning.
I do not judge people who decide to check out, it is their business…. RIP Don.
Confused
Not impressed with the opening line.
Also, the article seems truncated.
50% of the article was a quote.
Who was the other high profile person?
Where is the rest of the article? Do you have to login somewhere?
Well, it seems that KCC is the only “outlet” that is actually reporting that he killed himself. I wonder why Fox 4 does not just say that versus saying only” he passed away” blah blah…. I wonder why he killed himself? He had a job, a wife and a young child. I wonder what tthe issue was…. was he sick….did he hate his world…or did he hate the whole world…. and juts want out….. any of thsoe reason are acceptable, I just wonder, there are lessons to be learned in these things
I have been reading that suicide rates are up world wide… India, China and right here in America, but most of those folks are simply at the end of their rope, broke, busted and not willing to live homeless….. not to mention that this world sucks these days. Congress (The Senate today pased) passes laws that say they can lock people up without charges but those assholes can not get cut the deficit enough to avoid the next USA debt rating cut coming up….we Kill Ghadaffi becasue he wanted to start only accepting gold for oil, bypassing petro dollars (while the U.S. calims we took hiom out becasue of human rights violations…yeah.. hwat about N Korea?)… If/wehn petordollars go away it will lead to the collapse of the Dollar(actaully just sped up the inevtiable) OWS is depicted as bad guys by main stream media… as opposed to a group of concerned people who are only stating the obvious problems that are killing (have killed) this once great country….
Lots of problems out there…. I wonder which ones became too much for Don…world problems or problems closer to his home.
HOW?
Does anyone know how Don ended his life? Shotgun, pills, slit wrists, hanging, suffocation helium kit, electrocution, hand gun? Does anyone know? Anyone have any tips on a goodf methods?, painless? quick?, cheap? It is the suicide season.
FIrst of all, KC Star termed it a suicide late this morning in their article. I heard from a friend with KCPD ties that he was found with a bag over his head and connected to a helium tank. sorry if this offends anyone, I say it not out of disrespect for the dead. I really liked him. I think we just all wonder what happened.
Thanks for the quick reply Hollister 😉
Yeah the helium bag is supposed to be a prety good method. Thye busted an old lady earleir this year out in Californina who was selling the kits so quick that she could could not cash the check. One thing is (maybe) for sure, if one uses this method, it was not spur of the moment, it takes time to accumulate the needed supplies, rent the tank etc etc.. but they say it is a painless method, you just go to sleep.
If anyone is offended, grow a back bone, these are facts of the world, and there is A LOT worse things going on. The only sad part of this story for me is the 2 /1/2 year old kid. That part is bad. Heck I did not even replace my pets after they died … I answer to no one. When the time comes,,,, it is my call. fuck this world.
That Chuck ain’t me.
Tough deal for the Harman family. RIP.
Why does Hearne get so much flack for posting the news?
The man, God Bless him, was a local celeb.
????
Survivors
If you have ever been a survivor of someone’s suicide or murder then you don’t have to ask that question chuck. Everyday of your life you relive the day, hour, minute. You think you have forgot and then something clicks and it starts all over again.
I had a kid standing next to me on the El platform in Philadelphia. Start of rush hour, platform was crowded but not packed. Down the dark tunnel you could hear the train rounding the curve heading for Market Street. The light on the train illuminates the track and the debris stirs in advance of the train.
The kid turns to me, smiles and steps off in front of the train. We are at the rear of the platform so the train has barely slowed.
Live with that for the rest of your life. Then wonder why people get upset.
That was someone I never knew. I got to be the stand-in for this guy’s pain and insanity. I got to see the face of death as it stole the life from another human being.
Well I’m going down to Doomsville baby
And I’m taking you along with me
Well I’m going down to Doomsville baby
And I’m taking you along with me
Well I’m going down and I’m taking
A little piece of everybody I know along with me
thoughts on suicide
That is an interesting method of suicide, hadn’t heard of it before. As to the why, I heard he was feeling good so he went off his meds. Don’t know if that’s true or not? What makes it so shocking is the act he did have a young family and…he did seem very happy and very well-suited to his career choice.
As for suicide, it is true that its a permanent solution to temporary problems. As the daughter of someone who chose to take his own life hunting rifle, I can only express that it seems to be a very selfish decision. It truly feels lik a slap in the face to the spouse andchildren. Too bad he couldn’t get the help he needed, but this is apeak time of year for suicides, so reach outto your friends and familywho are prone to depression.
Lifes a bitch!
I liked this article, some are weak, and just can’t handle life I guess. Everyone has struggles, some just deal with them differently, like my favorite weather guy, Don Harman, I just wonder what was tormenting him so much to do such a thing. I will miss him on the morning news, He was the best.
Hearne can’t handle the truth
Rumor has it that Hearne Christopher kidnapped Baby Lisa! So he could eventually impregnate her and use HER baby’s stem cells to firm up his sagging scrotum! Stay tuned! (Hey, it’s just a rumor …)
Still Miss Don!
I’m STILL missing Don Harman! This news horrified our entire family. He was in our lives from the day he took his job with Fox 4. We saw him multi times a day everyday and this made him part of our family. DEVISTATING TO US! I don’t know how people could be so cold with their comments above and YES it is HIS BUSINESS! Some of you speak of selfishness on his part… Take a look in the mirror… I don’t think anyone that kills themselves are in their right mind! So the comments of selfishness falls onto the people and their comments of blaming that person for doing so! ESP if those people are already known to be on meds for depression!! That is called an illness and anyone who states he was being selfish is DEAD WRONG! That is like calling someone with Cancer selfish for having cancer and dying before their time!! It is apparent that anyone who believes he intentionally hurt anyone does not understand depression and an illness that is connected with it. I have been around some family members that have the illness and they are NOT IN THEIR RIGHT MIND! That is why it is called a DISEASE! Misfirings of the brain! Right and wrong is not even an option with those people so GET OVER THE FACT that they were ever selfish!! Take a look at the statistics of people who commit suicide and you will see for yourself that it is either illness, depression or drug related… NO RIGHT MIND THERE! Don Harman was the most giving person alive and he was NEVER selfish with ANYONE! When a person struggles with depression there IS NO REASON for a suicide, there doesn’t need to be one either… So in my opinion there was NO underlying reason for his suicide in his own mind… no one to blame…. just an illness that takes over that person and they can’t think correctly…. THAT IS IT!