Among the many honors Mr. Cronkite received during his career were several Emmy Awards, two Peabody Awards, a George Polk Journalism Award and, in 1981, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the United States’ highest civilian honor. Cronkite retired in 1981.

A devoted yachtsman, Mr. Cronkite sailed a 48-foot Sunward. He was a member of the Edgartown Yacht Club and for many years summered on Martha’s Vineyard.

Wife Betsy Cronkite died in 2005, after almost 65 years of marriage. The two met in 1936, while working at a Kansas City, Mo., radio station.