Damon 'Dave' Mock, journalist, dies at 41

As a boy, Damon "Dave" Mock knew he wanted a career in communications. Holding a fake microphone to his mouth, Mock would stand in his bedroom, pretending to broadcast.

"If the baseball game came on, he would announce the scores and the players," said his mother, Myrna Cohen of Westbury. "It was something he loved."

Mock, who went on to a career in journalism, died Dec. 26 after celebrating Christmas with his mother. He was 41. The cause of death is unknown. Mock had been dealing with the effects of a stroke he had suffered in September.

Mock was a lifelong Long Islander, born in Mineola and raised in Westbury. He attended Westbury High School, where he announced basketball and football games even after he graduated, and later attended Hofstra University, where he worked at the college radio station.

He went on to become the editor of the weekly Westbury Times, and later worked as a writer for CBS News for almost 13 years.

Mock's idol was legendary CBS broadcaster Edward R. Murrow, so when he went on to work for the same network, "it was fulfilling a dream," his mother said.

Close friend Anje Woodruffe of Manhattan said Mock would often show up an hour before his shift just to make sure he wouldn't arrive late.

"That was basically his dream job," she said. "He loved covering what he did."

Woodruffe said that in recent months Mock was determined to recover from his illness and return to working as a journalist.

"He always said to me, 'I'm going to beat this,' " Woodruffe said. "At no point in time did he ever sound like he was giving up."

In lieu of a funeral, a memorial will be held for Mock next Saturday at the Westbury Community Church.