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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.
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