A veteran Australian journalist who appeared on-screen for Network Ten and SBS and began his career at the Herald Sun has died at 58.

Respected television reporter Tim Stoney passed away at the age of 58 after a battle with cancer. He reportedly died on Saturday, following a recent social media update from his wife, former ABC news presenter Mary Gearin, who shared that his health was failing and invited friends to send messages of support while he was still able to read them.
Stoney and Gearin shared two children: a daughter, Maggie, and a son, Patrick.

“I’m not on socials much any more but I figure it comes in handy right now as a virtual party for this man, Tim Stoney,” Gearin wrote in a Facebook post published before his death. She described him as “the absolute best father his kids could ask for,” crediting him with raising their children while she traveled for work, and saying that, in doing so, he helped shape “two stellar human beings.”

Tim Stoney with his wife, Mary Gearin. Picture: Facebook
Gearin also painted a portrait of a man with wide-ranging passions—“a lover of words and wit and debate and travel and history and politics and sport and jazz and whiskey”—and praised his loyalty as both a family member and a friend. She listed the many roles he played throughout his life: journalist, writer, teacher, media trainer, “Demons ruckman,” “St Kilda fast bowler,” a capable batsman, and a devoted father who showed up relentlessly for basketball and athletics. She added, with affection, that he was “always, always, ridiculously good-looking.”

“Fate is dealing a beyond-cruel card that could see this big fella leave a 6’5” hole in our hearts within a few weeks, but this post is to celebrate him while he’s here,” she wrote, ending with: “Love you forever Timmy.”

Stoney got his start as a Herald Sun cadet.

Stoney’s wife Mary Gearin said his fate was ‘beyond cruel’.
According to the Herald Sun, Stoney began his journalism career as a cadet at the paper in 1996. He later spent three years covering news and sport at Network Ten, before moving to SBS World News Australia, where he covered news and sport for another four years.

Former Ten colleague Kate McGrath told the Herald Sun that Stoney was “special,” describing him as a gifted journalist and communicator who was kind, curious, witty, and deeply passionate about sport and history—“and just happened to look like a matinee idol.” Above all, she said, “Tim loved his family, especially Mary and his two children.”