Veteran newscaster Gwen Ifill dies at 61

Award-winning newscaster Gwen Ifill died at the age of 61 on Monday after a battle with cancer. Ifill was the co-anchor and managing editor of the "PBS NewsHour" and managing editor of "Washington Week."

WETA president Sharon Percy Rockefeller confirmed the sad news of Ifill's passing to staff at the news station on Monday, according to Politico.

SEE ALSO: Stars react to Gwen Ifill's heartbreaking passing

"I am very sad to tell you that our dear friend and beloved colleague Gwen Ifill passed away today in hospice care in Washington. I spent an hour with her this morning and she was resting comfortably, surrounded by loving family and friends... Earlier today, I conveyed to Gwen the devoted love and affection of all of us at WETA/NewsHour. Let us hold Gwen and her family even closer now in our hearts and prayers," Rockefeller wrote.

See photos of Gwen Ifill throughout her storied career:

Ifill moderated vice-presidential debates in both 2004 and 2008, as well as a Democratic debate earlier this year between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders. She wrote a book in 2009 about President Barack Obama called "The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama."

She was mostly absent from all other election coverage, and PBS announced last week that she would be taking an unspecified amount of time off due to health reasons. Ifill was also out for two months last spring.

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Ifill joined PBS in 1999 and had previously worked for NBC News, The New York Times and The Washington Post, among a handful of other publications. She was one of the most prominent African-American journalists in the country and, during her many appearances on "Meet The Press," she was routinely the only woman at the table.

Here's how stars and fellow journalists reacted to her death:

A look back on Gwen Ifill in an interview with MAKERS:

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