Judy Markey Dies at 82 in Switzerland After Choosing Assisted Death

Q: Why did Chicago radio icon Judy Markey travel to Switzerland to end her life after a devastating diagnosis?

Judy Markey went to Switzerland because, after being diagnosed two years earlier with a degenerative neurological disease, she chose a legally available assisted death rather than continue through what her family described as an irreversible decline. Her husband, Tom Collinger, said the illness was progressive and that Markey decided to end her life “on her own terms.” Friends and family said she remained calm and characteristically funny in her final days, but the underlying reason was the diagnosis and its expected course. Neurodegenerative diseases typically worsen over time and can erode movement, speech, swallowing, cognition, and daily independence, with no cure to reverse them. She traveled to a Pegasos Swiss Association facility near Basel because Switzerland permits assisted suicide under strict conditions that do not exist in many other places. Under Swiss law, the person must be mentally competent and must perform the final act themselves, usually after medical review and documentation that the decision is voluntary. Markey had also publicly supported medical aid in dying. Kathy O’Malley said the two had discussed that support on air over the years and believed it should be available as a personal choice. In that context, Switzerland offered Markey a legal pathway consistent with the decision she had made after her diagnosis.

3 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Oct 13

Judy Markey died Sept. 11 at 82 in Roderis, Switzerland, near Basel, after choosing voluntary assisted death, her husband said.
A degenerative neurological disease diagnosed two years ago led Markey to seek the procedure at a Pegasos Swiss Association facility.
Markey became a Chicago media fixture first as a nationally syndicated Chicago Sun-Times columnist, known for wry takes on money, parenthood and other everyday subjects.
WGN paired her with Kathy O’Malley on “The Kathy and Judy Show” in 1989, and their 20-year run helped establish women as major-market talk radio hosts in a male-dominated format.