Former CNN and 11Alive reporter Valerie Hoff DeCarlo died last week after a prolonged battle with lung cancer. She was 62. Her husband, Derrick DeCarlo, announced the news via Facebook on November 29.“I am sorry to report that Valerie Hoff DeCarlo passed after a valiant fight against cancer. The last year had been brutal on her, but she didn’t give up. She will be missed by so many. Know that she is in a better place,” the caption read, which was accompanied by three images of his late wife.Derrick DeCarlo has been the senior sales manager of the Americas – Global Media & Entertainment Services division at Tata Communications for the last six years, according to his LinkedIn.Mr DeCarlo also shared a statement with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in the wake of Valerie Hoff DeCarlo’s demise.“She was a force with everything she did. She was a strong, capable, loving woman and a wonderful mother,” the message read.Valerie Hoff DeCarlo and Derrick DeCarlo had been married since 2004 and shared two sons, Nicholas and Jhenya, one of whom was adopted from Russia, after they struggled with infertility.All about Valerie Hoff DeCarlo’s husband of 21 yearsDerrick DeCarlo is a sales/ business development leader and startup advisor who also works in video infrastructure and broadcast cloud services.He studied computer engineering at the University of the Pacific, followed by earning an economics degree from the University of Florida.Mr DeCarlo worked at LSN Mobile for 12 years in various roles, including Vice President of Business Development and Vice President of New Media. Between 2014 and 2016, Valerie Hoff DeCarlo’s husband was a senior marketing consultant at Jim Doyle & Associates before joining GridQuire Labs as the Senior Vice President of Publisher Development.Derrick also served in executive roles, including senior director/ vice president of business development at companies such as Creative Mischief and GroundTruth, formerly xAd.The father of two founded DeCarlo Management Systems in 2014 and was its Principal/ CEO until 2019. He also worked as an industry advisor at both Atlanta Tech Village and BIA/ Kelsey. Before joining his current role at Tata Communications, Derrick DeCarlo was a mentor at ATDC.Derrick DeCarlo was born and raised in Aspen, Colorado, and attended Aspen High School, as per his Facebook bio. However, he and Valerie Hoff DeCarlo were based in Atlanta, Georgia, with their two children.About Valerie Hoff DeCarloValerie Hoff DeCarlo worked as an anchor for CNN from 1992 to 1999. Later, she joined NBC-affiliate WXIA as a host and consumer reporter, serving until she resigned in 2017 amid a scandal.At the time, while covering a story about police violence and racism, she called herself a “news n***a” in a private text to a Black man, who was her source for the investigative news piece. He later told her employer:“If she is bold enough to say it to me, being an African American, then I’m pretty sure this isn’t the first time she has used that word.”In the wake of the controversy, Valerie Hoff was put on two-week administrative leave before she quit. Since then, she has worked as an independent citizen reporter, blogger, private relations consultant, social media manager, and digital marketer.Hoff DeCarlo, who attended Ohio University and Emory Law School, was also an independent options trader and investment manager at DeCarlo Management Systems.Valerie was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2013, but went into remission. Last year, she relapsed with stage 4 lung cancer.Before her demise last week, she was planning a family cruise trip and a Christmas party, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.