Binker's passions remembered: Family, first amendment

There was hardly a dry eye in the A.J. Fletcher Opera Theater as Binker's 13-year-old son, Mason, began his remarks.

"My father is not in a better place," Mason Binker said. "He would not have cared if he were going to heaven. He would have stayed here with us."

Hundreds of people gathered to hear from those who lived and worked with Mark Binker, a former WRAL multimedia investigative reporter who died suddenly last month at the age of 43. The common theme was that his work, his voice and his presence will be missed.

Slideshows during the memorial service chronicled his life of 43 years, most of them showing him in the role he treasured even above reporting, as husband to Marla and family man, father of Mason and Max.