Elise Finch inducted into Mount Vernon High School Hall of Fame
Beloved CBS News New York meteorologist Elise Finch, who died in 2023 at age 51, was inducted into the Mount Vernon High School Hall of Fame on Saturday.
She grew up in Mount Vernon, but wound up in everyone's living room.
Elise Finch honored as beloved daughter of Mount Vernon
Elise's husband – CBS News New York photographer Graig Henriques – and their daughter, Gracie, were among those accepting the honors.
"I just wanted to thank everybody for the just amazing support that Mount Vernon has shown us throughout this whole time," Henriques said.
The day was extra special for Elise's proud parents, Jimmy and Charlette.
"We are still having a chance to see the lives that she's touched, the areas where she's been active and what she's added to other programs and things," Charlette Wallace Finch said.
High school is the place where you decide what you want to be when you grow up, and Elise's sister Kiya Finch Roberts says Elise was determined at a very young age.
"As a kid, she was always having concerts and interviews. and in second grade, she was like the Barbara Walters of second grade," Finch Roberts said.
Mount Vernon Mayor Shawyn Patterson-Howard remembers Elise's school days.
"She was a Knightette, that was our dance troupe. I was in the marching band, and so we spent many, many Saturdays all day together," she said.
Elise Finch — daughter of Mount Vernon, who brought joy, love and great weather wherever she went, and who's in in our Hall of Fame and forever in our hearts.
George Latimer, Ruth Hassell-Thompson also honored
The school also honored two other proud grads, including one who rose to Congress – George Latimer.
"The memories are strong, and I loved growing up here. I loved going to school here," he said.
The other is a woman who would one day scale the heights of power in Albany, former state senator Ruth Hassell-Thompson, who hopes to inspire the young women of the next generation.
"They can recognize something in themselves that resonates. If she can do it, I can do it," she said.
