Judy Markey’s husband was by her side in a Swiss clinic when the Chicago radio legend made her final joke.
Tom Collinger asked the 82-year-old whether she wanted Advil after she mentioned a headache from a few bites of a Snickers bar, the Chicago Sun-Times reported. Markey quipped back, “I kind of want something a little stronger.”
The beloved co-host of the “Kathy and Judy Show” died after choosing voluntary assisted suicide, ending her life on her own terms following a battle with degenerative neurological disorder. Those present said she was joking around until her final moments.
Markey and co-host Kathy O’Malley ruled Chicago mornings on WGN-AM 720 from 1989 to 2009, then reunited for weekend shows from 2013 through 2017. Known as “The Girlfriends,” the duo built an unusually broad fanbase that included legions of male listeners at a time when Chicago radio was a heavily male-dominated field.
Their program marked a milestone as the first radio show in Chicago hosted by women. The format thrived on freewheeling banter between the hosts and callers, with conversations roaming from amusing personal stories and sex to weightier territory including abortion.
“We were not bulls–t. We said things that were true and things other people didn’t want to say,” O’Malley recalled of her longtime partner to the Sun-Times. “I loved her so much. She was something else.”
Before her radio career, Markey worked as a syndicated columnist at the Chicago Sun-Times, the same outlet that first reported her death. She later earned recognition in Northwestern Medill’s Hall of Achievement and was named among Chicago’s “One Hundred Most Influential Women” and the “Top One Hundred Talk Show Hosts.”
Markey is survived by her husband Collinger; daughter Erin Markey; son Adam Markey; stepson Zach Collinger; stepdaughter Kate Collinger Buxton; son-in-law Pat Buxton; and two grandchildren.
If you or someone you know is affected by any of the issues raised in this story, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-TALK (8255) or text Crisis Text Line at 741741.