John Jeffrey passed away

 Memorial services for Jeff Holtz will be held at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 28 at the Trinity Lutheran Church in Macomb. To attend the funeral in person, masks are required. Services may also be viewed on the church's Facebook page and on trinitylutheranmacomb.org. There is no visitation. Cremation rites have been accorded.


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MACOMB, IL – John Jeffrey Holtz, radio production supervisor and music director emeritus for Western Illinois University's Tri States Public Radio (TSPR) and current extra help at TSPR, 79, passed away Friday, Aug. 20 in Macomb.


"The Western Illinois University community mourns Jeff's passing. We extend our deepest sympathies to his family, friends and colleagues," said Western Illinois University President Guiyou Huang.


Holtz, who joined Tri States Public Radio (then known as WIUM) in 1987 as a radio production supervisor, retired from TSPR in August 2008. Even in his retirement, he remained active at TSPR, returning in October 2008 as an extra help employee to host the ever-popular Saturday evening program, Jazz After Hours. Before joining TSPR (WIUM), he was at WVIK-FM in Rock Island as program producer/host, Morning Edition Host and overnight station operations. Before embarking on his long tenure in public radio, he worked at My Old Toys in Moline and the Iowa Bearing Co.


"Jeff was our legendary jazz host and former music director. We will all miss Jeff, his wit and his smile. He was part of the fabric of TSPR and his absence will felt," said TSPR General Manager Heather Norman. "We all benefited from his passion for music."


In his TSPR After Hours biography, Holtz talked about his long history with jazz, and how he spent many a night tuned to AM stations broadcasting late-night music from across the country.


"I started listening to it when I was a little kid. When television came and everybody had those, I got my grandma's old Zenith radio because I didn't care about television," he said.


Dorie Vallillo, TSPR general manager emerita, served for more than two decades as the station's GM. She called Holtz, a "renaissance man."


"He was dear to those that he worked with and of course, to all his listeners and his buddies down at the VFW," she said. "And no one could tell a story like Jeff, and no one could fundraise on the radio like Jeff Holtz could. I used to love doing his program with him. He would say things and he would have to cut my mic because I'd be crying I was laughing so hard."


Vallillo said Holtz knew a lot about a lot of different things. She said he will be sorely missed by the community.


"He was a dear, dear, interesting person," Vallillo said.


Chris Vallillo, a Macomb-area folk musician and former host of Rural Route 3, paid tribute to Jeff, and remembers him as a long time fixture of TSPR and a wonderful friend to musicians (and to all).


"We met when I sent out copies of my very first recording, The Western Rag, to local NPR stations. He actually contacted me – and nobody does that! – and gave me tons of airplay. When I began to produce the Hickory Ridge Concert Series in the late 80s, Jeff would come to Shad Hill and record the sessions for WIUM. About a year later, Jeff asked me to come to WIUM for a meeting, and that afternoon 'Rural Route 3' was born," (Chris) Vallillo remembered. "I would include a credit on every recording I ever did thanking Jeff Holtz. He asked me about that a couple years ago and I told him he'd get a credit on every project I would ever do as a tip of the hat to the impact he had on my life... and he always will.


"Jeff had a classic radio voice and knew more about more kinds of music than any other person I ever met, from classical to jazz to folk, he knew the music, the players and the stories and how to pronounce the names," he added. "But he always had a soft spot in his heart for the folk musicians, particularly those of us out beating the road. He listened to every CD, cassette and LP that crossed his desk and gave airplay to countless musicians that did it for the love of the music, regardless of whether they were well known or not. I know, that somewhere in between the darkness and daylight, he'll be out there spinning his favorite tunes for us all."


Thanks to Holtz's tenacity and experience, Rural Route 3 became a nationally-syndicated show. At its height, about 65 stations throughout the country carried the program, including Chicago, St. Louis, Seattle and Boston. The show lasted more than five years before ending production.

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