Local · Kentucky
Shae Hopkins, Longtime Kentucky Educational Television Leader, Dies at 69
Hopkins led the public television network for more than 17 years and had planned to retire at year’s end, according to WKYT, LEX 18 and Current.
Shae Hopkins, executive director and CEO of Kentucky Educational Television for more than 17 years, died Thursday at age 69, Current reported. KET’s chief of staff, Tonya Crum, announced the death and described a brief but courageous battle with cancer, WKYT reported; Current quoted a KET spokesperson as saying she died of complications from it.
Hopkins spent four decades at the network, WKYT and LEX 18 reported, and had announced in August that she would retire at the end of the year and stay through the transition to a successor. Current reported that she joined KET in 1986 and became its head in 2010.
KET said in August that its programs reach more than 2 million viewers and users a week, double the figure early in her tenure, and that it had won 40 regional Emmy awards. PBS gave her its Daniel K. Miller Station Leadership Award in 2025, according to Current and the KET release.
She was the daughter of the late U.S. Rep. Larry J. Hopkins, Current reported. LEX 18 reported that arrangements had not been announced.
Sources
- WKYT, Oct. 30, 2026: the death, cause, Crum’s statement and career length <https://www.wkyt.com/2026/10/30/retired-longtime-ket-executive-director-ceo-shae-hopkins-dies/>
- Current, Oct. 30, 2026: age, cause, career, award and family <https://current.org/2026/10/ket-ceo-shae-hopkins-dies-at-69/>
- LEX 18, Oct. 30, 2026: tenure, retirement plan, survivors and KET’s statement <https://www.lex18.com/news/covering-kentucky/shae-hopkins-obit-oct-30-2026>
- KET, Aug. 19, 2026: retirement announcement, audience and awards <https://ket.org/pressroom/release/ket-ceo-announces-retirement/>
This article was drafted with automated tools from the sources listed, checked by a review pass, and published by Daniel Varrone. Corrections: editor@monochromechronicles.com