Lin Sue Cooney leaving 12 News

• Cooney has been with Channel 12 since 1984.

After more than 30 years at 12 News, Lin Sue Cooney is signing off.

The longtime news anchor, who started with Channel 12 in 1984 – "Eek!" she says on her bio page – made the announcement during the 6 p.m. news broadcast Wednesday. She will be joining the executive team at Hospice of the Valley.

And no, it was not an April Fools' Day prank.

"Sadly, it's not," Mark Curtis, her co-anchor, said.

"I will miss all the beautiful people I work with here, because they are family to me," Cooney said during the broadcast. "But, I am thrilled to be embracing a new season in my life. So many people have helped me along the way, I am anxious to start giving back and use the gifts God gave me to help others. ...

Lin Sue Cooney through the years

"The reason I've been able to sit in this chair for the last 31 years is because you supported me, loyally watching this newscast. I just want to thank you from the bottom of my heart."

During an interview after the broadcast, Cooney said that she had been considering a move for five or six years, because she wants to spend more time with her two children. "My family, I have to make them my priority," she said. "The clock is ticking."

Cooney has won several Emmy Awards for her coverage over the years, including one for her interview with Jimmy Fallon when he was about to take over "The Tonight Show."

She's also hung around for a long time, no small feat in what can be a cutthroat industry. "I have no clue why I lasted this long," she said, adding that the decision to leave was hers alone. She does credit her grounding at the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University - she wanted to be a magazine writer instead of a TV anchor - with helping her think about news first and celebrity second.

"It never entered my mind when I went on the journalism track that I wanted to be a star," she said. "Nobody at Channel 12 has that mentality. I think the minute you start loving your face on a billboard or a bus that goes by - I duck - I think you've lost the most important part of yourself."

"We will sincerely miss Lin Sue in our newsroom every day," John Misner, the president and general manager of Channel 12, said in a statement. "She is beloved not only by her co-workers but by Arizonans who invite her into their living room each night. While we know that it's our loss, we appreciate how impactful she will be in her new role."

She begins her new job later this summer. She will remain at Channel 12 through May. She sounded confident in her decision.

"I don't doubt it," she said of her decision. "I'm not going to look backwards at all."