Jim Boyd, the longtime WCVB-TV anchor who made Needham his home for more than 40 years, died Oct. 27 at 84 after five months with multiple myeloma, his wife, Linda Polach, told the Needham Observer.

Boyd joined Channel 5 in 1972 and spent 36 years reporting and anchoring its newscasts. Viewers knew him from the weekend news, the morning “EyeOpener” and the midday broadcast he co-anchored with Susan Wornick, according to Boston.com.

Away from the newsroom, Boyd was a familiar presence on Needham’s youth sports sidelines. He and Polach settled in town in 1984, the year they married. He helped coach their daughters, Alyssa and Olivia, in basketball, softball and track and volunteered with the Needham Track Club, the Observer reported.

Polach said family was his greatest joy. Boyd died with his wife and daughters around him.

Born in 1942 and raised in Harlem, Boyd began his television career in a New York public television mailroom in 1961. He moved into production, including work on the Emmy-winning program “News in Perspective,” before building his on-air career in Boston.

At WCVB, his assignments spanned decades of the city’s history.

“He covered the stories that shaped the city, from the turmoil surrounding school busing to the first arrival of the Tall Ships,” Polach told the Observer.

Boyd retired at the end of 2008. His career earned him a Golden Circle award from the New England chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences in 2011 and induction into the Massachusetts Broadcasters Hall of Fame in 2012.

Retirement gave him time to complete a longstanding personal goal. In 2013, at 71, he earned a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Tufts University.

He also pursued background acting in Boston-area films. Polach told the Observer that his appearances included “Manchester by the Sea” and “Spotlight,” and that he enjoyed learning how movies were made and getting to know other performers.

At home, he tended vegetables in raised beds he had built, turning some of his zucchini harvest into pickles for family and friends.

Boyd is survived by Polach, his wife of 42 years; daughters Erica Jacob, Alyssa Pannozzi and Olivia; and two grandchildren.

A celebration of his life is being planned. A date has not been announced.