Emily Couric (June 5, 1947 – October 18, 2001) was a Virginia Democratic state senator from Charlottesville.Couric was born to Elinor (Hene) Couric, a homemaker and part-time writer, and John Martin Couric, a public relations executive and news editor at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and United Press International in Washington, D.C.. Although her mother was Jewish, Couric was raised as a Presbyterian. Couric's maternal grandparents, Bert Hene and Clara L.