Beloved ABC presenter Jim Vargas has died aged 78, his family has announced.

The journalist, who was known for his reporting on politics and public affairs, enjoyed a four-decade career in journalism and spent two decades with ABC7.

Vargas died on January 14. His cause of death yet to be disclosed.

Bay Area native Vargus enjoyed a storied career.

According to reports, Vargas’ family said he was motivated to become a journalist after covering the political action and riots of the late 1960s and early ’70s.

In 1974, he won an Emmy award alongside Steve David and Bob Marshall for covering the Patty Hearst kidnapping.

He was also among a team that won a Peabody Award for their reporting on the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake.

Besides his time at ABC, Vargas also worked at KRON and KTVU.

Vargus retired in 2011 and was inducted into the National Academy of Television Arts and Science’s Silver Circle thereafter.

Tributes have been pouring in for the late journalist following the news of his death.

Paul Jeschke, a former KGO-TV reporter, said: ‘Jim was the ultimate all-round reporter. He could, and did, cover everything with professionalism and style.

‘We worked together from 1970 onward. He was always a reliable reporter, colleague and friend. He will be missed.’

Carol Ivy and Ed Leslie, also former KGO-TV reporters, described Vargas as their best friend.

‘We had been in touch with him until the end and will miss him greatly,’ they added.

Assignment editor Shelley Kilburn remembered Vargus’s ‘wonderful witty dry sense of humor’ and and how he ‘treated me with respect and dignity’.

‘He trusted me with assignments, news gathering, and directions, to make sure I didn’t get him and the crew lost in the field,’ she penned.

‘I could feel that trust. He was the absolute professional news man and incredibly helpful in putting together all the needed elements for a story.

‘But he also knew how to have a good time and let his hair down… as did the rest of us back in those days.

‘My time with him was in the mid to late 80’s. That was some BIG hair to let down!’