IL SR1026

Senate Resolution honoring Thomas A. Oakley of Quincy, who died on April 13, 2022, at age 89.

Oakley graduated from Duke University in 1954 with a degree in Economics and served as a pilot in the Air Force Strategic Air Command.

Led Quincy Newspapers, Inc. (later Quincy Media, Inc.) as president/CEO from 1969 to 2008, expanding from local newspapers and radio/TV to multiple television stations and newspapers before selling to Gray Media and Phillips Media in 2021.

Spent over 60 years advocating for highway development in the Tri-State region, resulting in a highway portion being named the Thomas A. Oakley Highway in 2009, and donated $1 million to the Tri-State Development Summit at Culver Stockton College.

Received numerous lifetime awards and honors including induction into the Quincy Area Chamber of Commerce Hall of Fame and an honorary degree from Quincy University in 1975; survived by two children, multiple grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.