Timothy R. Emmons

Timothy Emmons, 53, of Sycamore, died February 18, 2012 at his home following a lengthy battle with cancer. He was born June 18, 1958, in Champaign, IL to Robert and Peggy Emmons. He is survived by his wife of 33 years, Charlene; one son, Daniel; one daughter, Jordan; his mother Peg Emmons of Saybrook, Il; a sister, Amy Bradford of Saybrook, Il; his in-laws, Joyce Theobald, and George and Mona Lohnes of Bloomington; three nephews and two great-nephews. He was preceded in death by his father. He spent his early years in Mahomet, IL. His family moved to Normal, IL in 1971. He was a 1976 graduate of University High School, where he was active in speech and drama. Tim was a state finalist in forensics his senior year in radio speaking. It was in high school that he decided on a career in radio. After high school, Tim attended Moody Bible Institute for two years, and then graduated from Illinois State University as an English major. While at ISU he got his first job in radio at WGLT, the public radio station licensed to the university. He also worked at WJBC and WBNQ in Bloomington from 1980-1982. Upon graduating from ISU, Tim returned to WGLT to enter full time radio work and has since worked at WNIU and WNIJ in DeKalb, Illinois, serving as its program director from 1988-1992 and returning as general manager from 1995 to the present. In the interim he served as program director of KWMU in St. Louis, MO. In addition to working for Northern Public Radio, Tim and two partners were consultants for radio stations across the country with their business, Strategic Programming Partners. In addition to working directly with stations, they created Morning Edition Grad School, a series of workshops that trained nearly a hundred public radio stations, including nearly all those in the largest radio markets in the United States. Professionally, Tim became a leader in the public radio industry as an award-winning program director and a leading general manager. Tim built Northern Public Radio into a 5-station network with two programming streams, serving more than 100,000 listeners each week. The Northern Public Radio staff won dozens of awards for news and programming excellence in his tenure. In 2009 Tim was given the Don Otto Award by the Public Radio Program Directors association and Audience Research Analysis. The Otto Award is one of the highest honors in public radio. Tim was active in a number of professional and community organizations. He served on the board of directors of the Illinois Public Broadcasting Council, including two years as president of that group. He also served on several advisory committees for National Public Radio. In addition, he served on the board of directors of the Rockford Area Arts Council and Riverfront Museum Park in Rockford, which included a year as president.Tim married Charlene on June 23, 1979. His wife and children were his greatest pleasure in life. The family has lived in Sycamore since 1995, where Tim and Charlene were active in school-related activities throughout their children’s school years. Tim enjoyed art, music, and reading. He especially loved the outdoors and was an avid fisherman. He was a lifelong Chicago Cubs fan. Tim also had a deep personal faith in Jesus Christ. He was a member of Christ Community Church in St. Charles, where he helped serve on the Usher-Greeter Team. When the church’s DeKalb Campus opened, he continued to serve on that team in a leadership role. A celebration of Tim’s life will be held Saturday, February 25th at Christ Community Church, 1600 E Lincoln Hwy. (Rt. 38) in DeKalb. Visitation will be held from 9-11:00 a.m., with a service immediately following. The service will be recorded and uploaded to http://www.youtube.com/user/charleneemmons in the weeks following for those unable to attend.It was Tim’s wish that in lieu of flowers, a memorial be established for his children’s education. Checks may be made to the "Timothy Emmons Memorial" and mailed in care of P.O. Box 66, Elburn, 60119. Tributes may also be forwarded to the same address or on the web at www.conleycare.com.

A celebration of Tim’s life will be held Saturday, February 25th at Christ Community Church, 1600 E Lincoln Hwy. (Rt. 38) in DeKalb. Visitation will be held from 9-11:00 a.m., with a service immediately following. The service will be recorded and uploaded to http://www.youtube.com/user/charleneemmons in the weeks following for those unable to attend.