Mike Gurspan, who spent decades reporting in the Wiregrass and was most recently with WDHN in Dothan, has died after a two-month cancer battle, the station said Thursday.

Gurspan, who died of glioblastoma, a type of brain cancer, was 66.

Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., a native daughter of the Wiregrass, called Gurspan “a fixture of the Dothan television market.”

“Mike Gurspan was a pillar of the Wiregrass and a true credit to his profession. I can’t imagine tuning into the local news in my hometown and not seeing him doing what he loved. I saw firsthand not only the unwavering dedication and integrity that he committed to his craft, but the earnest care he showed to the community for decades,” Britt said in a statement. “Our prayers are with his family and his countless friends as they mourn this tremendous loss.”

A native of New York, Gurspan attended the University of Florida, where he was a kicker for the Gators.

His first reporting job was with WJHG in Panama City. He then worked for the city’s ABC affiliate, WMBB, where he was an anchor, reporter and meteorologist.

After an unsuccessful run for Bay County, Florida tax collector in 1992, Gurspan took a job at Dothan’s WTVY, where he covered the 1994 Elba floods, a 2007 tornado that destroyed Enterprise High School and killed eight students, and the deadliest mass shooting in Alabama’s history: the killing spree of 28-year-old Michael McLendon, who fatally shot 11 people in Geneva County.

In 2018, Gurspan joined WDHN, initially serving as sports director for the station.

After the COVID-19 pandemic, Gurspan became an anchor and reporter for the station’s 6 p.m. newscast.

In November, he was diagnosed with brain cancer.

Gurspan was praised by his journalism colleagues.

“Mike Gurspan was one of the most professional, ethical, and thorough journalists I’ve had the privilege of knowing. I am honored and humbled to call him a friend,” Michelle Mann, staff writer at the Dothan Eagle, told WDHN.

“I’ve never seen anyone consistently work longer hours than Mike Gurspan,” said WDHN News Director Glen Horn. “He would start reporting at 9 in the morning, then make his way to the station by noon, put together his stories in the afternoon, then anchor the evening newscasts. He talked about slowing down, but never could. He absolutely loved this business.”