Judy Markey, a beloved Chicago radio personality who spent years living with a debilitating neurological disorder, has died by assisted suicide at a clinic in Switzerland.
Markey, 82, died peacefully on September 11 with her family at her side, her longtime co-host Kathy O’Malley said. The clinic where she died has not been identified.
Switzerland is home to two assisted-suicide clinics: Dignitas in Zurich, which accepts only terminally ill patients, and Pegasos in Basel, where any adult may choose to end their life.
O’Malley said Markey’s health began to deteriorate soon after she was diagnosed with an undisclosed neurological condition in 2024.
Not long after receiving the diagnosis, the journalist decided to end her life under Switzerland’s Medical Aid in Dying law.
According to Markey’s obituary, she made the decision after living a “full and rich lifetime” and getting “more from it than she ever imagined.”
Her family and friends supported her decision, the tribute said.
O’Malley said Markey’s “resolve never wavered” once she had made her choice and selected a date.
Markey and O’Malley co-hosted WGN-AM’s top-rated Kathy and Judy Show from 1989 to 2009, building a devoted audience known as “the girlfriends.”
WGN Radio host Judy Markey died peacefully at age 82 on September 11, 2026, at a Medical Aid in Dying clinic in Switzerland
Kathy O’Malley, left, and Judy Markey, right, co-hosted the top-rated Kathy and Judy Show on WGN-AM from 1989 to 2009
During the daily morning program, the pair spoke candidly with listeners about sex, marriage, parenting, family disputes and growing older.
Listeners played a central role, regularly calling in to share deeply personal experiences and seek advice from the hosts.
Politicians, authors and celebrities also appeared on the program in hopes of reaching what Markey’s obituary described as a “broad Chicago audience.”
The co-hosts also discussed their support for assisted suicide on air. O’Malley described euthanasia as a “highly personal choice but one we felt should be available for those who chose it.”
Four years after the Kathy and Judy Show ended its 20-year run, Markey and O’Malley revived the program as a weekly Saturday morning broadcast.
The show ended its broadcast run in 2017.
Markey was born in Ohio and moved to Los Angeles with her parents and younger brother at age 13.
As a high school student, she relocated to Chicago to attend Northwestern Medill, widely known for its journalism program.
O’Malley said the Kathy and Judy crew reunited several weeks ago and “shared hours of laughter and tears and farewells”
O’Malley, left, and Markey, right, with their co-worker Spike O’Dell, center. In a tribute post, O’Dell described Markey as being ‘very confident, spunky, and not afraid to tell you exactly what she thought’
But her exit from Beverly Hills High School was largely due to the fact that Northwestern did not have a foreign language requirement.
She was struggling with French and her teacher in LA warned her that ‘she’d never speak any foreign language,’ according to her obituary.
Markey went on to study journalism at Northwestern University and, after graduation, lived in New York City, Washington, DC and Evanston, Illinois with her first husband, Tom Markey.
They moved overseas for seven years, living in Rome, Paris and Amsterdam. During her time abroad, Markey reportedly mastered both Italian and later French.
She and Tom shared two children, Erin and Adam, together.
Although their youngest, Adam, was born in Europe, the couple predominately raised their family in the Chicago suburb of Wilmette.
Markey, while being a mother, was a columnist for Chicago Sun Times. She also wrote for The New York Times and Cosmopolitan Magazine, and authored multiple books.
In addition to hosting her popular radio program, Markey dabbled in local Chicago television in the 1990s.
Markey, in a pictured shared on her obituary, loved her husband, family and dogs
Markey is remembered for her dedication to motherhood. She is pictured with her daughter, Erin, in a photo shared to mark Daughter’s Day in 2024
She hosted a documentary-style show called Chicago Slices, which saw her highlight human interest stories around the city, and WPWR’s What the El, a show where she interviewed commuters riding public transit.
Her work in journalism saw her be inducted into Northwestern Medill’s Hall of Achievement.
She was also named one of Chicago’s One Hundred Most Influential Women by Crain’s Chicago Business and one of the Top One Hundred Talk Show Hosts in the US by Talkers magazine.
Markey married her second husband, Northwestern University professor Tom Collinger, in 2002.
She and Collinger spent time at a second home in Tucson, Arizona, traveled the world and cared for their two dogs, Willie and Toby.
She is survived by Collinger, her children, stepchildren and two granddaughters.
‘She was a mother, a wife, and a friend to many,’ O’Malley wrote in her tribute.
‘She was a lover of beautiful flowers, a popular newspaper columnist, a voracious reader, a terrible driver, a talented novelist, a lover of cheese and good wine, an astute and hilarious observer of the human condition, a big fan of control, a cute dresser, and one of the few people who made me feel tall.’
Markey is remembered by most for her contributions to journalism, specifically in Chicago
WGN personalities Chris Collins, Dave Eanet, Kathy O’Malley, Dawn Okamoto, Steve Bertrand, Judy Markey and Anne Maxfield attend a memorial for late WGN radio director Lorna Gladstone in September 2025
Markey’s WGN co-worker Spike O’Dell also paid tribute to the late talk show host, describing her as ‘one of a kind.’
He said Markey was ‘very confident, spunky, and not afraid to tell you exactly what she thought.’
‘When WGN first paired Kathy and Judy together and put them on the air as an experiment, I remember telling some people, “nope…that’s never gonna work.” Man was I wrong! Really wrong thankfully!’ he wrote.
‘Kathy and Judy‘s radio audience was one of the most loyal audiences I have ever witnessed in my 33 years on the air.’
