Merri Dee was described by the late performer Nancy Wilson, in her 2013 memoir. with the words “trailblazing TV and radio icon,” and “girl-next-door” in Dee’s “Merri Dee: Life Lessons on Faith, Forgiveness & Grace.”
Having spent 43 years in Chicago broadcasting, primarily at WGN-Ch. 9, Dee was an on-air reporter and anchor for WGN from 1972-1983 and was director of community relations until 2008, when she retired. But these are just a few of the titles for Dee, born Mary Frances.
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Also from her memoir: “I’ve been a bag girl in a grocery store, computer demonstrator, runway model, auto show commentator, disc jockey, newscaster, radio and TV talk show host, editorial spokesperson, mistress/master of ceremonies, broadcast administrator, AARP Illinois state president, commissioner on the Illinois Human Rights Commission, U.S. Army ambassador, successful fundraiser, adoption advocate, children’s champion and one of Chicago’s first African American females in the broadcast business.”
Dee died this week at the age of 85. Her death was reported Wednesday by WGN and family members, who said she died overnight in her sleep at her home.
Dee was many things to many people, including advocate and philanthropists. She hosted parades and telethons, and when she retired as WGN’s manager of its Children’s Charities in 2008, she had raised more than $30 million. She started in radio in 1966 at WBEE in Harvey and moved to television two years later on WCIU-Ch. 26. By 1971, she was hosting “The Merri Dee Show,” a talk show on WSNS-Ch. 44. Dee was inducted into the National Association of Black Journalists Hall of Fame in 2011.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot remembers Dee as “a homegrown, broadcasting legend whose time as an anchor and radio and talk show host made her a beloved, local celebrity … she also made a huge impact on communities across our city and state through a number of philanthropic pursuits that reflected her passion for protecting vulnerable individuals such as children in need of adoptive homes.”
Linda Yu, a retired WLS-Ch. 7 anchor, said Dee’s caring impressed her. “She had a smile for you.”
“It wasn’t ‘Oh, if WGN does something, it’s for the Chinese community and I work for the Black community and somebody comes, and it’s the Hispanic community,’ ” Yu said. “She looked at every single one of these as, ‘This is what I could help because they’re all part of the city I love.’ That was just so clear to me that for her, it was, we were all part of the city that she loved and if she could help in any way, she made this a better city. To me, that’s the thing about Merri.”
Retired WGN anchor Robert Jordan remembers Dee welcoming him to the station in 1973. The two became dear friends and Dee’s daughter Toya would eventually become Jordan’s daughter’s babysitter. Jordan said Dee and Toya Campbell talked every day.
“She had an amazing gift for interviewing people, she could make them feel at home,” Jordan said. “She did the Lotto (broadcast) for a number of years, she did a newscast, she was very versatile and could do it all; she had such a depth into the Black community. She really helped solidify WGN’s position as “Chicago’s Very Own” throughout the entire city.”
While people remember her personality and her ever present smile, Dee did endure a notable event on July 17, 1971, when she was kidnapped at gunpoint with psychic Alan Sandler while leaving the Ch. 44 station. She survived being shot twice in the head in a South Side field. Dee crawled to the roadside and flagged down a car. Sandler died at the hospital. Dee, blinded and paralyzed, was placed in intensive care. A little more than a month later, she was back on her feet and in her 10:30 p.m. time slot on WSNS. She made being a victim into motivation for helping other victims of violence. She helped draft a Victims Bill of Rights adopted by Illinois in 1992.
Information about Dee’s funeral services has yet to be announced.
The ‘Blues Man’
Pervis Spann, 89, another iconic Chicago broadcaster, also died this week from complications due to Alzheimer’s, according to a statement from WVON-AM 1690. Celebrated as the voice for Black Chicago during his transformative tenure as a disc jockey and owner at WVON, Spann’s career spanned more than 60 years. As president emeritus and co-founder of Midway Broadcasting Corp., WVON’s parent company, Spann was instrumental in providing a platform for Black musical artists to gain national exposure.
A native of Mississippi, Spann served as an inspiration to many showcasing the power of Black media and business ownership. His daughter Melody Spann-Cooper now leads WVON, continuing his legacy for broadcasting, music, business and community.
“He had the heart of the Black community,” N’Digo publisher Hermene Hartman said.
In 1963, Spann became the second disc jockey hired by Leonard Chess, who founded WVON that year. His love for blues music led him to become known as “The Bluesman” in the broadcast industry. He was known as the person who named Aretha Franklin the “Queen of Soul” and B.B. King the “King of Blues.”
Spann was also a successful concert promoter and WBBM-Ch. 2 anchor Jim Williams remembers Spann walking side by side on stage with Franklin at a Chicago concert when Williams was an Andy Frain usher.
“Pervis was indeed a legend,” said NABJ President Dorothy Tucker and Ch. 2 reporter. “Not only did the sound of his voice inspire hope and change in Black Chicagoans, but he also shined bright as a role model to many Black journalists and communicators on how to use our platforms to uplift our communities. His presence will be missed, and his legacy will live on through every person he touched along the way.”
Spann is survived by his wife of 67 years, Lovie Spann, and four children, including Spann Cooper. Services will be held at Apostolic Church of God, 6320 S. Dorchester Ave., Chicago at noon March 23.
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