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| 1 | SENATE RESOLUTION | ||||||
| 2 | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened | ||||||
| 3 | to learn of the death of Jay Pearce, who passed away on August | ||||||
| 4 | 21, 2024; and | ||||||
| 5 | WHEREAS, Jay Pearce was born on December 27, 1954; he was a | ||||||
| 6 | native of Detroit, Michigan, and he was raised Winnetka, | ||||||
| 7 | Illinois; he received his Bachelor of Science in | ||||||
| 8 | Communications and Fine Arts from Southern Illinois University | ||||||
| 9 | Carbondale; and | ||||||
| 10 | WHEREAS, Jay Pearce led a dedicated career in TV and radio | ||||||
| 11 | for 40 years, spending half of that time working in public | ||||||
| 12 | broadcasting; his early career included work at radio stations | ||||||
| 13 | in southern Illinois, including WCIL in Carbondale and WDDD in | ||||||
| 14 | Marion before joining WSIU at Southern Illinois University | ||||||
| 15 | Carbondale; he was news director for the Illinois Radio | ||||||
| 16 | Network, a statewide service that delivered news stories to | ||||||
| 17 | local stations, and WEBX, "the Web", a Urbana-Champaign FM | ||||||
| 18 | station that was one of the first broadcasters to stream | ||||||
| 19 | programming online; and | ||||||
| 20 | WHEREAS, Jay Pearce served as radio program director and | ||||||
| 21 | station manager for WILL of Illinois Public Media, a | ||||||
| 22 | not-for-profit public media service of the University of | ||||||
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| 1 | Illinois, beginning in 1998; after leaving WILL in 2012, he | ||||||
| 2 | served as CEO and general manager of WVIK in the Quad Cities, | ||||||
| 3 | where he was also the station's local Morning Edition host, | ||||||
| 4 | retiring in 2022; and | ||||||
| 5 | WHEREAS, Jay Pearce most recently served as executive | ||||||
| 6 | director of the Illinois Public Broadcasting Council and, | ||||||
| 7 | during his battle with cancer, was co-host of the Pancreatic | ||||||
| 8 | Cancercast with his brother, Gary Pearce; and | ||||||
| 9 | WHEREAS, Jay Pearce served on several boards of directors, | ||||||
| 10 | including NPR, the Quad Cities Illinois Rotary Club, the | ||||||
| 11 | Illinois News Broadcasters Association Foundation, the | ||||||
| 12 | Illinois Associated Press Broadcasters Association, and the | ||||||
| 13 | ONE Foundation of Bettendorf, Iowa; and | ||||||
| 14 | WHEREAS, Jay Pearce was a compassionate, driven individual | ||||||
| 15 | who will be remembered for valuing community above all else | ||||||
| 16 | and going above and beyond to help his fellow broadcasters; | ||||||
| 17 | and | ||||||
| 18 | WHEREAS, Jay Pearce was the husband of Melisse Trentz, the | ||||||
| 19 | father of Dale and Sara, and the stepfather of Mannon; | ||||||
| 20 | therefore, be it | ||||||
| 21 | RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED FOURTH GENERAL | ||||||
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| 1 | ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing of | ||||||
| 2 | Jay Pearce and extend our sincere condolences to his family, | ||||||
| 3 | friends, and all who knew and loved him; and be it further | ||||||
| 4 | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | ||||||
| 5 | presented to the family of Jay Pearce as an expression of our | ||||||
| 6 | deepest sympathy. | ||||||