An award-winning investigative journalist who served as an anchor and reporter for 9NEWS in Denver for more than 30 years died Sunday.

“We have very sad news to share tonight,” 9NEWS anchor Tom Green said in a social media post on Tuesday. “Our friend and long-time colleague Ward Lucas has passed away.”

Lucas, who retired in 2009 after 33 years as a reporter and anchor at 9NEWS in Denver, died Sunday at the age of 75.

“Ward Lucas oozed a key trait of great journalists: curiosity,” 9NEWS journalist Kyle Clark said on social media Tuesday. “His deep curiosity led him to acquire a vast knowledge of a wide range of subjects, which he generously shared in long conversations with this reporter when we worked together on weekends years ago.”

Lucas, who was part of the original “I-Team,” worked with photographer John Fosholt for years at 9NEWS, and the two formed an award-winning duo.

“We went through some strange and difficult moments together as an investigative team,” Fosholt told the Denver Post after Lucas’ retirement, recalling everything from documentaries to trips to the former Soviet Union. “I think we did a good job of that.”

Lucas began his broadcasting career at age 16, hosting radio talk shows in Seattle, Washington, according to his website. He moved to television in 1974, to a CBS station in Seattle, and two years later to 9NEWS in Denver.