In Retirement, Roxanne Stein Puts Her Focus On Her Adopted Hometown Of Wellington

Along with providing the people of Palm Beach County with their news for nearly 25 years, Roxanne Stein has made her mark on the Wellington community, just as Wellington has made its mark on her.

From a young age, Stein knew that she wanted to work in the business of producing and delivering news. She vividly recalls growing up in Pennsylvania, watching the news on a black-and-white screen and aspiring to one day provide communities with the important news of the day.

“I loved that every night the news was different. Every night there was something new to follow,” Stein recalled. “I was only seven or eight, but I loved it. I started clipping out headlines from newspapers and making scrapbooks because I loved tracking what happened every day in life.”

After graduating from the Pennsylvania State University, Stein began her news career in her hometown of Lancaster, Pa. In 1993, she made the move south to West Palm Beach and became the news anchor known and loved by many on WPTV News Channel 5.

Stein, along with her co-anchor John Favole, became familiar faces in Palm Beach County.

For Stein, the most rewarding feeling of being responsible for delivering news — good or bad — to the people of the Palm Beaches was being able to be there for residents by providing necessary information.

“I have had so many great opportunities and covered many amazing stories, but what I really loved was being part of the community and part of people’s lives,” said Stein, who recently retired from her news anchor position. “It was important to me to embrace people around me, because it’s part of my personality to do so. I tried to deliver news [thinking] of the families and kids watching at home.”

After her 41-year news career, some recent events began to take a stronger toll on Stein. Hurricane Irma last year, for example, was harder for her than previous storms she covered.

“It was hard — sleeping at the station, being away from home and having my husband be home alone,” Stein said. “It’s the business, and I wouldn’t complain about it, but it was hard.”

Covering the news surrounding the Feb. 14 deadly school shooting in Parkland was also harder and more surreal for Stein.

“Parkland really got to me. Parkland is only an hour away, and it is so much like Wellington,” she said. “The stories of the kids and teachers who went to school just trying to make the world better and ended up dying really affected me. I got emotional about it, and there were a couple times on the air that I had to look away.”

The best stories Stein delivered were those about the people in the community who go out of their way to help others in need.

“There is so much good in this community, and there is so much being done by people who want to help each other and make a difference when it’s needed,” she said. “It is so important to tell the stories of what the community does for each other.”

After more than two decades at WPTV and much consideration, Stein left her anchor chair on March 30.

“I was very lucky to do what I wanted to do for 41 years and to [work] in the same place for 25 years,” she explained. “I really have been very fortunate to be part of a community that embraced me just as I embraced it. I also love the people I worked with at Channel 5, but I felt ready to be off such a hectic schedule. It just felt like the right time. I always wanted and planned to retire while I could still do things.”

She is excited about this new phase of her life and has no regrets about the timing.

“WPTV gave me a job for so long, and my job was great, but it was time to move on. People told me I would mourn my job, but I don’t think so,” Stein said. “I think if people have a lot of fun throughout life, they can continue to have a lot of fun when they are no longer working.”

Since her retirement, Stein has invested most of her energy into spending more time with her husband, Steve Moss, going on daily trail rides with her horse, Bamboo, riding her bicycle around town or playing tennis to stay active.

“Bamboo and I trail ride around Wellington every day and have a wonderful time,” said Stein, who has long enjoyed the equestrian aspects of her adopted hometown. “He’s a special horse, he loves what he does and loves taking care of me.”

She is thankful that her career left her financially secure, but noted that she has never been a big spender. “[My husband and I] live a very modest lifestyle,” Stein explained. “We bought a house 22 years ago, we still live in it, and we are not moving out of it.”

While she has retired from WPTV, she has clearly not retired from high-profile community roles. She was recently installed as the new president of the Wellington Chamber of Commerce.

With the chamber, Stein hopes to support Wellington businesses on a positive and prosperous path.

“With the chamber’s members and board, I want to help businesses become stronger and provide them with the tools they need to be profitable in the community,” she said. “Businesses make our community stronger. It is also important that we support our local businesses, our mom and pops.”

After taking a period of time to relax and enjoy a more laid-back schedule, Stein hopes to get even more involved in maintaining Wellington’s community.

“Wellington is a very special and significant place to me,” she said. “I love the community here, and I want to help keep Wellington as wonderful as it is. It is such a family place, and communities that embrace families, like Wellington does, are at the fiber of this country.”