Longtime viewers of KOMO News know the name Bob Throndsen.

If you watched him report on some of the biggest stories in our region over the years, and the world for that matter, then you didn't forget him. He reported with style, but also decency. He told stories with facts and information, to be sure, but also with a sparkling sense of humanity.

Bob died in his sleep over the weekend. He was 75-years-old.

Prior to retiring from KOMO News in 2012, Bob spent 34 years at KOMO TV, and before that he worked in Portland and Philadelphia.

He reported the news at KOMO, and anchored the news, too. Much later he became a managing editor, and then the news director for KOMO 1000 Radio.

In all of those roles he sought to make those around him better. His guidance as a mentor is legendary at KOMO News. He is talked about still for his willingness to spend time with young reporters, helping craft their scripts, encouraging them and making them better at their craft.

When I interviewed him before he retired, Bob told me, "I've often said to reporters through the years, that if we take the right audio, and the right words, and the right video, we make magic. And nobody else can touch us. And that magic comes into your life, and my life, and maybe some of what we do makes a difference."

That is the way he tackled every story, every day.

"I've had a chance to go toe-to-toe with people," Bob said in the previous interview, "I've had a chance to laugh with them, to cry with them -- and that's what I take away, is telling their story. And knowing I think I did a pretty damn good job."

Bob was there when Mount St. Helens blew. And when Ted Bundy was executed. And his reporting during the riots following Rodney King's beating was and is legendary.

After he retired, Bob stayed busy with his wife Sonja, traveling and doting over their five grandchildren.

He also worked on a children's book and wrote regularly for My Edmonds News. And behind the scenes, he continued to mentor and teach.

“The people I’ve met," he told me that day in the newsroom, "the stories they have shared, the joy and the heartache of their lives, the wonders and the crises of our world have all shaped my life."

This Wednesday, my Eric's Heroes story will look back on not only Bob's wonderful reporting, but at the ripple effect his generosity and decency has created for everyone lucky enough to know him.

He liked to say, "I've been lucky - in life, in love and in my work."

Those of us who knew him and worked with him and were touched by the brightness of his soul were also lucky. Very lucky, indeed.