A number of officers down in Baldwin Park: Police

As Lester Holt delivered his last newscast for “NBC Nightly Information” on Friday, his son, NBC Chicago anchor Stefan Holt, shared a particular goodbye to his dad.

“Hey Dad, greetings from Chicago,” Stefan Holt mentioned. “That is actually laborious to consider… it’s your final broadcast on ‘Nightly Information,’ and as you get able to say farewell, I simply need to say thanks. Thanks from the underside of my coronary heart, not just for being the type of father that each child hopes for, but in addition for being the type of mentor that each journalist desires of, for all of the critiques, the profession recommendation, for all these years letting me hang around behind the scenes at 30 Rock attempting to soak all of it in.”

Stefan Holt has been following in his father’s Chicago footsteps after Lester Holt spent years on the anchor desk within the Windy Metropolis earlier than changing into a staple in New York.

“I couldn’t be extra happy with your journey and all that you’ve accomplished from anchoring right here in Chicago to touring to each hotspot world wide to spending 10 years on the desk of ‘NBC Nightly Information,’” Stefan Holt mentioned. “I do know it didn’t come with out sacrifice, however I additionally know deep down that it was value it, and I’m grateful for all that you’ve accomplished as a journalist and as a dad. I hope this subsequent chapter with ‘Dateline’ is crammed with as a lot contentment and hopefully just a little extra time to return hang around with Morgan and I and the grandkids right here in Chicago.”

He ended his message with one last observe to his father.

“Dad, congratulations in your last broadcast. I like you,” Stefan Holt mentioned.

Lester Holt, the anchor and managing editor of “NBC Nightly Information” for a decade, introduced in February that he was stepping down from the long-running broadcast firstly of the summer season.

“A smile involves my face once I assume that with ‘Nightly Information,’ and ‘Dateline,’ I’ve now anchored two of probably the most profitable and iconic tv information packages in broadcast historical past,” Holt wrote in a observe to “Nightly” and “Dateline” staffers saying the transfer. “As a 20-year-old radio reporter on the police beat chasing breaking information round San Francisco, I might by no means have imagined my profession path would unfold in the best way it has. What an incredible journey.”

The 66-year-old journalist, who first joined the “Nightly Information” staff instead anchor in 2003, has been the face of NBC’s protection of presidential debates, pure disasters and political interviews for many years. From his dedication to reporting from his bed room through the COVID-19 pandemic to his occasional performances along with his bass, Holt leaves a legacy of integrity, heat and tenacity behind him.

“The timing simply appeared proper. I by no means needed to be a type of those that was completely related to only one factor,” Holt mentioned in an interview with “The At the moment Present.” “I at all times assume that it’s important to have one thing else in your life.”

A well-known face will step into Holt’s weeknight host footwear: Tom Llamas.

The transition gained’t mark the top of Lester Holt’s presence on NBC Information, nonetheless.

He’ll proceed to be a fixture on the community with a full-time function at “Dateline,” the place he has been the principal anchor for nearly 15 years.