Fox News Dana Perino Pays Touching Tribute to Her Late Dad

Fox News host Dana Perino shared a touching tribute to her late father, Leo E. Perino, on Father’s Day, Sunday (June 23), describing him as a “great girl dad.”

“Well, this is a first for me: Father’s Day without my father,” Perino wrote in a FoxNews.com article. “My dad died in his sleep at the end of May 2026,just 29 days after retiring. He was 79. The guy loved to work. And he loved his daughters. He was a wonderful girl father to two girls.”

Perino first revealed her dad had passed away in a June 2 Instagram post, writing, “He was a great girl dad – he ensured Angie [her younger sister] and I knew we could go far, and we did.”

“He was joyous in his work and was reluctant to retire but finally decided it was time. He died 29 days later,” she added. “There is dignity and purpose in work, and he provided such a good example for so many, especially me. Rest in gentle peace, Dad. You were much loved and will be missed every day.”

In her Fox News piece, The Five co-host shared five lessons from her father that “made a difference in my life and played a role in my success and happiness.”

The first lesson she said was “early and consistent reinforcement of equality,” noting that her dad “never preached” about equality, “he just lived it.” As a father to two girls, Perino said her dad “consistently told us that girls could do anything they wanted to do, and that we didn’t have to set our goals short of the top just because we were female.”

His second lesson was to make “education and reading a priority,” with Perino explaining, “In third grade, he started a tradition with me where I had to read The Rocky Mountain News and The Denver Post before he got home from work, pick out two articles, and be prepared to discuss them.”

She added, “From that start, I’ve never stopped reading the news. But he wasn’t just teaching me to read the news. He was teaching me to think.”

The third lesson was “get them talking,” with Perino noting how her father got her “talking about the news and politics early on.” She explained how “He’d listen, challenge, lightly debate, and then affirm. This made me more comfortable doing so in front of future bosses, including the leader of the free world, and later on to massive audiences that loyally watch Fox News Channel.”

Perino said the fourth lesson was “faith,” writing, “My mom and dad helped raise us with good values and a belief in a higher power, which has sustained us in our recent grief and added to our joys.”

The final lesson Perino shared from her father was “leading without judgment,” recalling a time after graduate school, when she received a bachelor’s degree in mass communications and felt like a failure.

“I realized I’d just gotten a degree in something I didn’t want to do… I felt like I’d failed, wasted time and money, and I was afraid to call my dad,” she shared. “But when I did, he just said, ‘That’s great. We’ll just drive you back here after graduation and you’ll figure it out.’ I was so relieved.”

She continued, “To be a dad your daughters can run to, no matter their age, without being scared they’ll be judged — well, there’s no greater comfort. A good father does not just protect his daughters from the world. He becomes a safe place when the world is too much.”

You can read the full post here.