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KARE 11’s Randy Shaver retiring after four decades: 10 things to know about him

molly guthrey, pioneer press
·6 min read

Anchor Randy Shaver has announced that he will retire this summer from KARE 11, where he has covered news and sports for more than four decades.

Shaver says his last newscast will be 6 p.m. Friday, June 28. After that he plans to spend more time with his family, including his wife, Roseann, their two sons and wives and their two grandkids, Bella and Rocco.

Ahead of his retirement this summer, here are 12 things to know about the 65-year-old news personality:

He has worked at the station for 41-1/2 years

“I started as the weekend sports anchor at KARE on January 1, 1983,” Shaver recalled in his retirement announcement on Facebook on Thursday:

In 1983, the North Stars were still playing hockey in Minnesota. In baseball that year, only one Twins player made the All-Star Game (outfielder Gary Ward). And when football season kicked off in 1983, Bud Grant was still the head coach of the Minnesota Vikings.

At the time, the station was known as WTCN-TV. Shaver, who began his career in May 1981 at KAAL-TV in Austin, Minn., had just turned 24 when he started the weekend shift in the Twin Cities.

His sports highlights

So much has happened in Minnesota sports in the last 43 years — and Shaver has witnessed most of it.

“I’ve had a front row seat to so many amazing sports moments in Minnesota, and some not so great, but grateful for all of it,” Shaver wrote.

Highlights?

Covering the Minnesota Twins in 1987 and 1991 as they won the World Series, he says.

He went from sports to news

By 1994, Shaver was the station’s sports director. After serving in that role for 18 years, he moved on to anchor the evening news with Julie Nelson.

“Since 2012, I’ve anchored the news, sitting next to Julie every night,” Shaver wrote. “What an honor! She’s such a pro. She taught me a lot and I appreciate her so much. I will miss her dearly.”

Nelson says she will miss him, too.

“I am so happy for him and for his lovely wife, Roseann but having a hard time imagining life at KARE without him,” Nelson wrote in a Facebook post.

He’s the longtime host of Prep Sports Extra

Shaver didn’t stop covering sports when he began anchoring the news.

He is still known for covering football on Prep Sports Extra: In 2023, he marked the 40th season of his signature high school football highlights show.

The popular program recaps games and features stories about coaches and athletes from across the state.

“Thank you to the Minnesota high school sports community especially the football coaches, players and fans!” Shaver wrote on Thursday. “40 years doing the Prep Sports Extra was the most fun I’ve ever had in this business. I will miss the adrenaline rush of Friday nights covering football in Minnesota!”

He’s a former prep athlete

Speaking of prep sports, the Iowa native was quite a standout at Jefferson High School in Cedar Rapids (Class of 1977): He was inducted into the high school’s hall of fame in both football and track in 2020.

He’s had cancer — twice

More than 25 years ago, Shaver was diagnosed with cancer — Stage IV Hodgkin’s Disease — and dealt with a remission later on. He shared his experiences both times and continues to help others through his nonprofit.

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“I want to thank Minnesota’s cancer community for trusting in us to support you through the Randy Shaver Cancer Research and Community Fund,” he wrote. “Our charity isn’t going away — we are going to continue our work. My amazing wife, Roseann, will see to that.

“And thank you all for supporting me through two winning bouts of cancer! I will always be appreciative for the thousands of encouraging emails from viewers I received in 1998 and 2018. Your words helped me get through some tough times.”

The mission of the Randy Shaver Cancer Research and Community Fund is to support the cancer community in Minnesota by funding research, prevention, treatment and other programs relating to the needs of the cancer community. More info, including upcoming events, at randyshavercancerfund.org.

Craig Kilborn interned under him

After Shaver announced his retirement news Thursday morning on his Facebook page, comedian Craig Kilborn was one of the commenters.

“Congrats Randy!” Kilborn wrote. “Never forget when I interned at KARE and you were very nice to me and very supportive. Cheers!”

“Craig Kilborn I knew you when,” Shaver replied to Kilborn’s comment. “Thank you.”

Kilborn, who grew up in Hastings, has hosted “The Daily Show” on Comedy Central and “The Late Late Show” on CBS. He currently hosts a podcast, “The Life Gorgeous.”

We asked Shaver about Kilborn the intern.

“Craig Kilborn was a sports intern for me when he was in college and I gave him a chance to do an on-the-set sports audition to help him get his first job,” Shaver recalls. “He knocked it out of the park! Best intern sports audition I ever saw.”

He’ll still be on the radio

Fans will still be able to listen to Shaver talk sports — and more — during his weekday appearances on the 93X Half-Assed Morning Show.

“As I’ve said before, this is the best part of my day,” Shaver said when he announced the news on the show. “I have enjoyed this more than I thought I ever would and for 20+ years I’ve been here and I don’t plan to go away.”

He’s not done working, but …

What else is on the horizon?

Shaver is not sure — yet.

“I’m wide open to whatever comes my way,” he says. “I’m not walking away from work completely.”

Especially if it involves sports — especially football — in some way. On the radio? Maybe. Coaching? Possibly. But one thing is for sure.

“If I’m going to work after 65, it’s going to be exactly what I want to do,” Shaver says. “If it’s not, I’m not going to do it.”

The best part

There’s one thing that Shaver says he is looking forward to the most:

“The biggest thing is not having to drive home from work at 10:45,” he says of his nightly commute.

Shaver has been working from 2 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. for a long time.

“Since May 1981, I’ve never worked any other shift,” he says.

KFAN-FM’s Mark Rosen, who retired from WCCO-TV in 2019, tells Shaver he’ll enjoy it.

“Randy, you won’t believe how liberating it is to have your nights free without a coat and tie,” Rosen wrote on X (formerly Twitter). “Congratulations on doing so much for our community, it was a blast sharing our local airwaves for so many years.”

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