When former KDKA weatherman and host Jon Burnett and his family shared his diagnosis of suspected CTE back in February 2024, Jon did it because he wanted to help research into CTE at the National Sports Brain Bank at the University of Pittsburgh.

CTE, known as chronic traumatic encephalopathy, is a brain disease believed to be caused by repeated head injuries, most commonly seen in football players, and is only diagnosable with an autopsy of the brain.

Now, months after Jon died in February of this year, there's an official diagnosis. Jon did have CTE, but there's a lot more to Jon's story.

KDKA's Kristine Sorensen visited Jon's widow, Debbie Burnett, at her home, along with their two children, Samantha Booth and Eric Burnett. They reminisced about how Jon was such a big personality and left an impact on everyone.

"I think that we will be grieving forever because it's just a big missing part of our lives," Debbie said.

"I try to speak his name often. I try not to hold back with talking about him and let the kids hear me talk about him," Samantha said.

"You know what I think is the hardest moments, whenever I hit these hurdles that otherwise in the past, he would have been there to call upon right away," Eric added.

Debbie, Samantha and Eric recently met with Dr. Julia Kofler, who is the director of the National Sports Brain Bank at the University of Pittsburgh and who performed the autopsy on Jon's brain.

KDKA-TV interviewed Dr. Kofler about Jon's autopsy.

"The big question was, of course, does he have chronic traumatic encephalopathy or CTE? And he did have some borderline pathology for that, just enough to meet current diagnostic criteria."

Examining Jon's brain tissue under the microscope on hundreds of slides, Dr. Kofler could see patterns showing CTE. Because it was atypical, she consulted a half dozen additional pathologists, and the majority agreed it met the criteria.

That was just one of eight neurodegenerative diseases Jon had, including Alzheimer's, which was the primary cause of his symptoms, and frontotemporal dementia and vascular disease in the brain, all of which are forms of dementia.

"We know that traumatic brain injury is a risk factor for dementia. So it has been shown to increase the risk for Alzheimer's disease. It definitely has been linked to CTE."

Jon was also dealing with ALS and severe amyloid buildup, which caused mini-strokes and more. Dr. Kofler says it's common for people with neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's to have more than one brain disease, but Jon definitely had more than average. 

It was a lot for the family to take in.

"It was a little bit of a shock. I guess a lot of shock," Debbie said.

"Now it kind of makes sense why it was so hard to diagnose, because there were so many contributing factors, and most of them weren't presenting classically," Samantha said.

"It was hopeful, because I know that answers were provided from Dad's donation. And I feel like hopefully that motivates people. I mean, I'm going to do it 100%," Eric added.

Jon's family encourages anyone who has played contact sports to sign up for the study with the National Sports Brain Bank.

"We hope more people will step up and donate, and especially people who've played contact sports," Debbie said. "I would hope that other people would take John's lead and extend his legacy, honor him in this way, if they choose to."

The National Sports Brain Bank launched in 2023, and Jon was the first participant whose brain was examined. Dr. Kofler described Jon as "an absolute pioneer."

Immediately after Jon first shared his diagnosis, more than 100 people signed up to donate their brains.

"(Jon) probably was the one person who made the most impact on our brain bank so far," Kofler said. "So his support has been tremendous, and his courage to speak out, not just him, but also by his wife and by his children, to be willing to discuss his diagnosis in public and their struggle."

Eric said he was blown away when Dr. Kofler told them Jon was the first donation and that he was grateful they were all making a difference. 

"If we can inspire people too, if that story can inspire people to be more open about that and seek help when they need it, that's the most important thing," Eric said.

Dr. Kofler and her team are working to learn more about CTE and all neurodegenerative diseases that could be caused by contact sports. They especially want to understand why some people, like Jon, develop CTE, and others do not.

"We don't really have a good understanding of what's driving those differences, and that's really important to inform people, like for parents to make informed decisions if they want to send a kid to football, maybe to another sport, and ff they're prone to or are more likely to get CTE later in life," Dr. Kofler said.

Scientists hope to learn more from new sensors in helmets and mouthguards. Engineers are working to protect players' brains with better helmets, Guardian Caps, and new rules to reduce impact. 

Debbie's also happy to see the growth of flag football.

Jon's brain will be used in research for decades, helping future generations. It's just one example of his legacy of love for everyone around him.

"I think so many people really loved watching him," Debbie said. "I think he brought joy to a lot of people through his work on television, and he never passed up an opportunity to compliment someone."

"I want him to be remembered for the love that he showed to people, the joy that he brought to people, and just his grateful heart," Samantha said.

"He genuinely cared about everyone else, no matter who they were or where they were in life. And I think that's the No. 1 thing I was hoping ever all of us could take just a shred of that with us. I feel like it would make the world a better place," Eric remembered fondly.

Any adult can participate in the National Sports Brain Bank study, and they especially want people who played contact sports or who've had concussions for any reason.

Once you sign up, it's an annual questionnaire, and then your brain is donated when you die. You can learn more and enroll here.