The ever-laughing Ernie Johnson is facing a tough battle right now. The battle of overcoming a personal loss. Yes, the TNT analyst and host lost his sister, Christine, to cancer. But even in this rough patch, the 68-year-old must stay strong for other members of his family. This includes Johnson’s only surviving sibling.

Yes, the TNT analyst had just two sisters growing up. The family started with Ernie’s mom, Lois Johnson, moving from Chicago to a small town in Vermont. It was there that she met Ernie Johnson Sr.. The couple raised two daughters—Dawn and Chris—and a son who’d one day be quite a name in the sports media world. While not much is known about his sisters in the corridors of media, a letter written by him to his younger self revealed that his two sisters were once teachers by profession.

“… You’ll be trying to figure out what on earth you’re gonna do with your life. Your two older sisters, Dawn and Chris, were both teachers. You’ll consider becoming a high school teacher and baseball coach. You’re really not thinking much about a career in broadcasting…” read the letter. But it was not just Ernie Johnson who had a career path leading toward the media world.

Just like her brother Ernie Johnson, Dawmn Simonton has also worked for Warner Media. As per her LinkedIn profile, she started out as Sr. Director of Operations and Project Management at Turner Sports in 2000. Her initial responsibilities included determining vision, setting objectives, and directing the goals for the studio and remote operations. And for production management staff of all sports broadcast events that TNT undertook at the time.

Working her way up in the network, she left the network at the position of Vice President of Network Services. As for Ernie’s deceased sister, not much information is available on Christine. All we know is she was a teacher by profession who lost the battle of her life to cancer at the age of 72.

What’s Ernie Johnson’s surviving sister has been doing lately?

After parting ways with Warner Media Group, Dawn Simonton has continued her journey in the entertainment and production industry. Initially, she spent a year as Vice President of Global Centralized Production Operations at NEP Group, a leader in outsourced broadcast and live event production services.

Dawn’s career, however, took a significant turn when she joined Trilith Studios. Starting as Vice President of Sales and Marketing within production support, she now serves as the Vice President of Production and Business Operations at Trilith Live.

According to Trilith Live’s official website, their facilities are purpose-built to host live-audience productions and immersive entertainment experiences. They feature two state-of-the-art sound stages, truck bays, green rooms, and flexible production spaces.

It’s clear that even though Ernie Johnson’s sister stepped away from the mainstream media, she still is involved in the broader field of communication.