Roy Ackland, longtime host of the FOX8 Community Spotlight series Roy’s Folks, has died at the age of 84. Akland is one of North Carolina’s most recognizable television faces and voices. The down-to-earth weatherman and his affable personality brought us all together with Roy’s Folks.

Born March 22, 1938, Ackland grew up in England until his father, an academic and author, moved the family to Texas. He served in the Air Force, where his knowledge of the weather led him into television. In 1987, Ackland joined WGHP as a weatherman and began working with Positively Piedmont photojournalist David Weatherly. The two are a perfect match. The following year, after a trip from Murphy to Manteo, the series was titled “Roy’s Folks”.

For three decades, the duo traveled the state and the South in search of unique personalities for WGHP viewers statewide and for the television networks that also aired the series. The duo captures the best of the Tar Heel State, telling everyday stories and historical moments, such as the removal of the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse from the encroaching sea in 1999.

The collection, which usually includes his wife and three daughters, made way for “Roy’s Folkcraft Fair,” which drew thousands of visitors and raised tens of thousands of dollars for the Salvation Army. Ackland retired to eastern North Carolina in 2017, with Chad Tucker continuing the hit series now known as Roy’s Folks.

Check out some of the stories Roy has been working on over the years.