Today anchor Meredith Viera sadly lost her husband of almost 39 years, Richard Cohen, following his death at the age of 76 two weeks ago. The NBC show shared the news on Tuesday morning that Richard had passed away on Christmas Eve following a battle with pneumonia.
![[Meredith and Richard, seen here in January 2012, first met one another way back in 1983]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/07/16/93829687-14259335-Meredith_and_Richard_seen_here_in_January_2012_first_met_one_ano-a-47_1736268383452.jpg)
Richard, who was a CBS News journalist, had battled multiple sclerosis for over five decades and also overcame colon cancer twice. Meredith, 71, first met Richard back in 1983 and the pair were married three years later in June 1986, but she once admitted that they only said 'I do' because they wanted to start a family.
![[Meredith admitted that they only got married in June 1986 because they wanted to have children]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/07/16/93829701-14259335-Meredith_admitted_that_they_only_got_married_in_June_1986_becaus-a-46_1736268383451.jpg)
During an appearance on Today back in January 2019, Meredith spoke to hosts Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager about her tying the knot. When Hoda, 60, asked her if she knew straight away that she wanted to marry Richard, Meredith joked: 'No, I still have so many doubts!'.
![[Richard once admitted that Meredith told him he was 'selfish' in regards to his illness. The pair are pictured here in December 2008]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/07/16/93829669-14259335-Richard_once_admitted_that_Meredith_told_him_he_was_selfish_in_r-a-49_1736268383534.jpg)
She then revealed: 'I don't think we would have gotten married, to be honest with you, except we wanted children and we decided we wanted to be married when we had children. 'We met in '83 and got married in '86 and it was really because I felt my clock was ticking and the whole thing and we decided, "yes we want kids, so let's get married.".
![[The couple would have celebrated 39 years of marriage in June of this year]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/07/16/93833009-14259335-The_couple_would_have_celebrated_39_years_of_marriage_in_June_of-a-48_1736268383532.jpg)
Today anchor Meredith Viera's husband Richard Cohen has passed away at the age of 76. The couple are pictured here in May 2018. Meredith and Richard, seen here in January 2012, first met one another way back in 1983. Meredith admitted that they only got married in June 1986 because they wanted to have children.
![[Meredith and Richard pictured with their three children Lily, Gabe, and Ben in September 2005]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/07/16/93829675-14259335-Meredith_and_Richard_pictured_with_their_three_children_Lily_Gab-a-50_1736268383701.jpg)
