LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - Matt DeCample, a former television reporter who later served as spokesman for Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe, has died after battling a rare form of cancer. He was 44.
DeCample was a native of Renton, Washington, who came to Arkansas to work for Little Rock station KATV. Nick Genty, the station’s news director, says DeCample died Sunday after a nearly three-year battle with an aggressive, rare form of liver cancer.
DeCample, who did improvisational comedy on the side, blogged about his battle with cancer and used the header: “Fighting cancer with writing and bad jokes. Also using modern medicine.”
He served as spokesman when Beebe was attorney general and later when Beebe was governor. When Beebe’s term ended, DeCample did consulting and communications work, even after his cancer diagnosis in 2016.
Beebe, a Democrat who served two terms as Arkansas governor, said his former aide had “an incredibly quick mind and a depth of knowledge that was truly astounding.”
“He was calm and extremely honest and his credibility was unquestioned,” Beebe said. “We were lucky to have known him. We will not see his like again.”
Services are pending.
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