‘Face The State’ anchor Dennis House announces departure

Dennis House, host of WFSB’s “Face the State” announced he is leaving the station Tuesday after nearly three decades.

“Words cannot express how grateful I am to have served the great state of Connecticut as a journalist for 28 years at WFSB. The station has meant so much more to me than just a job. I’ve grown up here. The people who work here are my family,” House said in a joint statement with WFSB posted on his website.

Denise D’Ascenzo, House’s co-anchor on the show, died last year from a heart attack. House called the special report on his colleague’s death

“the most challenging moment of my career.”

“Being half of the most successful and longest running anchor team in Connecticut television history was a great honor,” he said in the post on his website.

House celebrated 28 years with the station on Monday in a tweet.

He did not announce any plans for his future.

During his tenure at WFSB, House covered the murder trial of O.J. Simpson, the Sept. 11 terror attacks and the death of Pope John Paul II— along with “several UConn Final Four championships,” his website noted.

House grew up in Norwood, Mass., where he graduated from Xaverian

Brothers High School, according to his website. His first job in television came with WPRI-TV in Rhode Island, followed by anchor positions in Michigan and Illinois. He came to Channel 3 in 1992.

“On behalf of all of us at WFSB, we want to thank Dennis for his decades of service to the people of Connecticut and wish him luck in his future endeavors,” Dana Neves, vice president and general manager of WFSB said in the joint statement.

“Dennis has a passion for news and politics, telling thousands of wonderful stories from here in Connecticut and around the world over the years,” Neves said.