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NORTH ROYALTON, Ohio-A member of the Fox 8 family, who tragically succumbed to the flu virus this past winter is being honored in a very special way.

Emmy-award winning reporter and anchor Kathleen Cochrane DePiero passed away suddenly after contracting the virulent virus in December.

Friday morning, family, friends and colleagues from Fox 8 gathered at St. Albert the Great School for an emotional ceremony dedicating a new studio in her memory.

“After Kathleen’s unfortunate passing, the family wanted to do something that was impactful in the community, but also honor her memory in the appropriate way,” said Dean DePiero “She loved this school, she loved broadcasting, she loved journalism and we felt this was very appropriate way to do it .”

The DePiero’s two small children Blake and Hadley are students at the school.

A few months before she passed away Kathleen had actually reached out to the schools principal and discussed ways she could volunteer and give back to the school.

“Specifically to the students who might have some interest in communications,” said Principal Edward Vittardi.

A state of the art broadcast studio for students was unveiled in memory of Kathleen Cochrane-DePiero, an Emmy award-winning reporter and anchor.

Over the last nine months, DePiero began fundraising for the studio and working with the school on a plan.

He also enlisted support from Kathleen’s friends at Fox 8 who donated equipment and provided engineers and graphic designers to help pull it all together.

The end result went far beyond expectations.

Students were absolutely thrilled.   “I like best how much it actually mirrors a real studio,” said Jacob Kucera, 8th grade, “All I can say is how grateful and appreciative we are to the DePieros for making this possible.”

Kathleen was bitten by the news bug when she was only in the third grade.  Her mother Tara Cochrane had to fight back the tears seeing the studio and plaque unveiled.

“It’s wonderful,” said Tara, “She would’ve so enjoyed something like this when she was growing up.

Both she and Dean hope the studio will be a living legacy that inspires the next generation of broadcast journalists to pursue their dreams.

“I know she’s smiling on us today,” said Dean.