{"id":5731,"date":"2026-07-30T14:42:00","date_gmt":"2026-07-30T14:42:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=5731"},"modified":"2026-07-30T14:42:00","modified_gmt":"2026-07-30T14:42:00","slug":"abc-new-york-anchor-bill-ritters-wife-describes-confronting-him-over-alzheimers-symptoms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=5731","title":{"rendered":"ABC New York anchor Bill Ritter’s wife describes confronting him over Alzheimer’s symptoms"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Bill Ritter\u2019s wife, Kathleen Friery, was \u201cnervous\u201d to confront her husband when she began noticing Alzheimer\u2019s symptoms.<\/p>\n

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The 63-year-old, who has been married to the ABC New York anchor since 2008, explained to People on Wednesday that she didn\u2019t want \u201cto say anything\u201d and \u201cbe the one to bring it up.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, she told the outlet, \u201cWhen I did, Bill didn\u2019t dismiss my concerns. He said. \u201cOh, yeah. I\u2019m feeling it.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Ritter, 76, noted that \u201cin the back of [his] head, [he] knew something was happening.\u201d<\/p>\n

The journalist recalled, \u201cIt was weird. In the beginning, it was that feeling of, \u2018What\u2019\u2019s their name? It\u2019s on the tip of my tongue.’\u201d<\/p>\n

He was able to \u201cbreeze past it\u201d because \u201cwho doesn\u2019t have that from time to time?\u201d<\/p>\n

Ritter went public with his diagnosis and stepped down from his job in June, two years after finding out he was battling the disease.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s \u2018early stage\u2019 Alzheimer\u2019s, and they say the treatments I\u2019m getting are keeping it at bay. For now,\u201d he explained. \u201cBut there is no guarantee, because there\u2019s no cure yet for Alzheimer\u2019s. So, unless someone finds an amazing cure, and soon, tonight will be the last newscast I anchor.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the time, he added, \u201cSpending more time with my family has now become even more important, because my life has taken a turn.\u201d<\/p>\n

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He went on to tell \u201cGood Morning America\u201d viewers that his first symptom was \u201cforgetting people\u2019s names and places.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, Ritter noted that his Alzheimer\u2019s was initially dismissed as mild cognitive impairment (MCI), \u201cwhich can sometimes be an on-ramp to Alzheimer\u2019s, but sometimes it\u2019s not.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ritter and Friery, who was \u201cwatching [her partner] like a hawk,\u201d noticed more memory loss \u2014 and met with other doctors in the summer of 2025 for more testing.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we finally heard Alzheimer\u2019s, there was this sense of, \u2018Okay, so we\u2019re not crazy. This thing is real,’\u201d Friery remembered.<\/p>\n

As for Ritter, who takes a monthly infusion to slow the disease, his \u201cfirst thought\u201d was, \u201cIt\u2019s going to really be hard on this family. What is it going to mean for us and what do we do?\u201d<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

He is the father of daughter Ella, 17, with Friery, as well as Mia, 33, and Owen, 31, with ex-wife Janny Scott.<\/p>\n

Ritter doesn\u2019t \u201cwallow very well\u201d and quickly decided he needed to \u201cdeal with this\u201d setback \u2014 and Friery has \u201cnever been more proud\u201d of him.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt would be natural for us to focus on loss, and he\u2019s not doing that at all. It\u2019s just not his way,\u201d she told People. \u201cI\u2019m in awe.\u201d<\/p>\n

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ABC New York anchor Bill Ritter’s wife, Kathleen Friery, described confronting her husband over his Alzheimer’s symptoms in a new interview.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5730,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5731","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-celebrity-news"],"yoast_head":"\nABC New York anchor Bill Ritter's wife describes confronting him over Alzheimer's symptoms - Metro Transit Review<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=5731\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"ABC New York anchor Bill Ritter's wife describes confronting him over Alzheimer's symptoms - 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