Many individuals find the greatest delight in their life to be spending time with their grandkids. However, the names that their grandkids choose to call them might be a source of irritation for them. Because of this, Lester Holt decided to go by the name that his grandkids would use when referring to him.
It was somewhere in the early 1980s that Lester Holt and Carol Hagen, who would later become his wife, first crossed paths. When they first met, she was working as a flight attendant, and Holt had not yet established herself as the well-known and respected news anchor for NBC News that she is today.
When they were just getting to know each other, Holt invited Hagen out on a date that was a little out of the ordinary. He received a call to report on a fire in Napa Valley and requested Hagen to accompany him there. Hagen confessed that she was interested, and she decided to accompany him on his adventure.
She was aware at the time that he had a hectic work schedule, and she said that she was prepared for what she was putting herself into when she started dating him. After some time had passed, Hagen was made redundant at the same time that Holt was offered a job as a reporter on WCBS-TV. As a result, Hagen decided to go to New York City to be with Holt at his new workplace.
In 1981, the couple uprooted their lives and made the journey to New York, where Holt began his other job and Hagen began exploring new career options. By the year 1982, the two had decided to be married and soon after relocated to Los Angeles. Thereafter, in 1987, they became parents to a boy named Stefan Holt.
The pair has been married for the last four decades, and a lot of people are curious to know what the key to their successful and fulfilling marriage is. In an interview with the magazine 2020, Holt said that the secret to a good marriage was laughing and being goofy along with one’s spouse.
“It helps you make it through the difficult moments. However, we still have the capacity to laugh at ourselves and be ridiculous.”
After then, Holt came clean and stated that he was aware of the fact that his employment caused his wife to go through difficult times. The TV anchor said that he had a difficult time balancing his desire to be there for major events and breaking news with his obligations to his family.
On the other hand, Holt said that Hagen was patient and understanding about his professional endeavors. In addition to this, he stated that she was a kind and giving lady who was there for him when he needed her assistance the most, something that he was grateful for.
In 1987, not long after the birth of their first son, Stefan, Holt, and Hagen were blessed with the arrival of their second son, Cameron. The family is quite tight, and both Hagen and Holt are extremely proud of their boys for a variety of reasons. However, what jumps out to their father the most about them is their work ethic.
Holt gushed about his children, stating that as they got older, they were such lovely lads. They were wonderful children who never caused their parents any problems, and today those children are beautiful young men who have established families of their own.
His two boys have each found their own paths to success, and he couldn’t be happier with how they’ve matured into the people they are today. They have each charted their own course professionally and achieved remarkable success in their respective industries.
After graduating from Pepperdine University with degrees in Broadcast Journalism and Political Science, Stefan is now working as a professional reporter for NBC 5, Chicago. Before relocating to Chicago, he had a short-term position at Hearst Magazine in Florida, serving as an anchor.
In addition to being successful in his professional life, Stefan has also been successful in his personal life. He is a father of three kids with his wife, Morgan Holt, to whom he has been married for a long time. Henry, Sam, and James, the youngest of his three boys, were born in 2021.
Cameron attended Stanford University for his education and majored in Mathematical and Computational Science. In addition to that, he graduated from Stanford with a Master of Science degree in Management Science and Engineering in the year 2013. Since that time, he has been working at Morgan Stanley, where he is now the Vice President of the Institutional Equity Division.
When it comes to anything pertaining to his private life, Cameron is a great deal more discreet than Stefan. He does not have any children, but he does have two rescue animals with names Millie and Maddy. His profile on Twitter reveals that he is a fan of the Yankees and coffee, despite the fact that his account is private.
The siblings can be seen standing with their arms around one another and smiling into the camera in the monochrome photograph that was uploaded to Stefan’s Instagram page. The shot was taken in black and white. The accompanying commentary provided insight into Stefan’s feelings about his sibling.
Stefan mentioned that despite the fact that he is older than Cameron, his younger brother is really taller than he is. Cameron is the younger of the two brothers. After that, he discussed:
“The man who is both the brightest and the funniest person I know. We are having a party in honor of my brother Cameron and all of the other brothers and sisters who live all around the world.”
Additionally, Stefan has not been shy in expressing his gratitude to his mother and father. On a number of times, he has used his social media platforms in order to express his gratitude to Hagen and Holt for the roles that they play in his life, both as his parents and as the grandparents to his children.
During the course of 2017, Stefan shared on his website a photograph of Holt carrying his kid on his shoulders. In the photograph, both the father and the youngster are shown to be smiling. He accompanied the picture with a comment in which he praised his father for the many things that he had taught him, but he did not elaborate on the particular things that Holt had taught him.
On the other hand, in a post from 2020 on Instagram, Stefan uploaded a different picture of Holt instructing him on how to ride a bicycle. This time, the caption divulged the information that Holt had passed on to his son, saying:
“From teaching me how to ride a bike to reporting the news to help me raise my own family, he has been there for me through it all. I want to thank you for everything, Dad. Best wishes for Father’s Day!”
Additionally, Stefan has published many pictures of his mother on Instagram. In a post that he made in 2019, Stefan published a collage that had images of himself and his mother spanning their whole lives. He also attached a little message to it, wishing Hagen a great Mother’s Day and sharing it with the world.
In addition to the fact that Holt taught Stefan all he knows, the two of them now have the opportunity to develop their relationship further since they share the same building at NBC. The newscasts at four and eleven o’clock are both anchored by Stefan.
Holt also said that one of the reasons he enjoyed working in the same building as his son was because the latter did not feel self-conscious about expressing his love for his father. He said that his kid would tell dad he loved him wherever within the structure, regardless of who could have been around to overhear the conversation.
When they are through conversing with one another, Stefan will remark a casual “Thanks, Dad!” and then continue with his section of the program before moving on to the next segment. The duo also sometimes appear on the broadcast together. Additionally, he said that Cameron was nearby since he worked in the banking industry in New York.
Both Stefan and his father have a deep appreciation for the sky. In an Instagram photo that was uploaded on Holt’s Instagram page, the two of them could be seen in the cockpit of the jet, and Holt explained to his son how much fun it was for him to fly as a co-pilot.
In addition to being happy parents of their own boys, Holt and Hagen may also take pride in being proud grandparents to Stefan’s three sons. When Holt’s grandkids come to see him on set, he often posts pictures on social media of himself with his grandchildren.
According to Holt, he requested the name “Granddude” because he believed the term “Grand” conveyed that he was an older person, however, the word “dude” suggested that he was still young enough to be a cool grandfather.
Holt recalled feeling a mixture of pride and happiness the first time he heard his grandson refer to him by his nickname. He couldn’t contain his joy at his grandson finally recognizing him and at the fact that he was calling himself by the name he had chosen for himself.
