Chicago radio host Judy Markey has died by assisted suicide at a clinic in Switzerland after being diagnosed with an undisclosed neurological disorder, her former co-host has said. She was 82.
Markey died peacefully on September 11 with her family by her side, according to Kathy O’Malley, who co-hosted the long-running Kathy and Judy Show with her on WGN-AM.
Markey’s condition began to affect her body shortly after the diagnosis in 2024. She decided to end her life under Switzerland’s Medical Aid in Dying law not long afterwards.
The clinic where she died has not been identified. Her obituary said Markey had made the decision after living a “full and rich lifetime” in which she got “more from it than she ever imagined”.
Her family and friends supported her choice, while O’Malley said Markey’s “resolve never wavered after she made the decision and chose a date”.
Judy Markey’s broadcasting career
Markey and O’Malley hosted their popular morning programme on WGN-AM from 1989 to 2009, building a devoted following known as “the girlfriends”.
The pair spoke openly with listeners about sex, marriage, raising children, family arguments and ageing. The programme relied heavily on callers sharing personal experiences and seeking advice.
Politicians, authors and celebrities also appeared in an effort to reach a broad Chicago audience. Markey and O’Malley discussed their support for assisted suicide on air, with O’Malley describing it as a “highly personal choice but one we felt should be available for those who chose it”.
Four years after the show ended its 20-year run, the presenters revived it as a weekly Saturday morning programme. It was eventually taken off air in 2017.
Markey was born in Ohio and moved to Los Angeles with her parents and younger brother when she was 13. She later moved to Chicago to attend Northwestern University’s Medill journalism school.
After graduating, she lived in New York, Washington DC and Evanston, Illinois, with her first husband, Tom Markey. The couple spent seven years overseas in Rome, Paris and Amsterdam, and had two children, Erin and Adam.
Markey worked as a columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times and also wrote for The New York Times and Cosmopolitan magazine. She authored several books and presented local television programmes, including Chicago Slices and WPWR’s What the El, in which she interviewed commuters on public transport.
Her journalism career led to her induction into Northwestern Medill’s Hall of Achievement. She was also named among Chicago’s 100 Most Influential Women by Crain’s Chicago Business and one of the top 100 talk show hosts in the United States by Talkers magazine.
Markey married Northwestern University professor Tom Collinger in 2002. They travelled widely, spent time at a second home in Tucson, Arizona, and cared for their two dogs, Willie and Toby.
She is survived by Collinger, her children, stepchildren and two granddaughters.
In her tribute, O’Malley described Markey as “a mother, a wife, and a friend to many”, as well as “an astute and hilarious observer of the human condition”.
Former WGN colleague Spike O’Dell called her “one of a kind” and said she was “very confident, spunky, and not afraid to tell you exactly what she thought”.
