“Good Morning America” closed its Thursday, September 17, 2026, broadcast with a remembrance of Judd Parson, an editor who had spent nearly 25 years at the ABC morning program.
George Stephanopoulos, Michael Strahan, Rebecca Jarvis, Lara Spencer, Sam Champion and Ginger Zee delivered the news together from the studio couch, giving their longtime editor an emotional on-air goodbye after his death.
“We have some sad news to share this morning about a member of our GMA family. Our editor Judd Parson has passed away,” Stephanopoulos said toward the end of the September 17 episode. “He had a warm smile, easy sense of humor, and he loved to help people,” Stephanopoulos said.
Strahan spoke about the imprint Parson had left on his coworkers. “Judd leaves a lasting legacy with the countless GMA producers and editors he mentored over the years,” he said.
Parson worked overnights for those years, the shift that puts a morning show together while the rest of the country sleeps. Thousands of stories passed through his edit bay, and the producers and editors he trained went on to handle segments of their own. Colleagues described him as beloved.
The broadcast did not give his age, and no cause of death has been reported. Three children and five grandchildren survive him.
According to Strahan, Parson enjoyed cooking, golf, music and storytelling, but valued time with his family above all.
For the program, it was a second loss inside a matter of weeks. Its September 3 broadcast ended with a tribute to Francisco Antonio “Fran” Saldaña, a maintenance engineer who died on August 29 at 70 “from congestive heart failure.”
Photographs of him filled the screen as Rebecca Jarvis said, “Before we go today, we want to celebrate Francisco Saldaña, a beloved member of the GMA family,” adding that “Fran had an extraordinary career.” Saldaña began that career in the Dominican Republic, where he covered the Nicaraguan revolution, before moving to the United States. His television work spanned more than five decades, starting in his native Dominican Republic in the early 1970s, and he had been with Disney and ABC News since 2017.
“He did everything from launching cable systems to teaching college before coming to ABC and becoming a treasured member of the GMA engineering team,” anchor Whit Johnson said. “We’ll remember him for his curiosity, love of travel and gardening, and his humor. He will be missed.”
GMA’s Gio Benitez had the last word that morning: “We will miss him.”
