Sarah Doerner, IJEA’s longest-serving president and an Illinois educator whose career spanned 37 years, died Nov. 29 in Du Quoin at the age of 86. Services were held Dec. 7 at the Searby Funeral Home in Du Quoin. A full obituary can be found here.
Sarah was IJEA’s president from 2006 to 2016, beginning her service after her retirement from teaching journalism at Du Quoin High School in 1996.
Born Dec. 7, 1937, in Rosiclare, Ill., Sarah began her education career in 1958-59 at Metropolis High School as an English and social studies teacher. She taught at three other high schools (Pope County, Mendota and Marissa) before spending the final 21 years of her career in Du Quoin Community Unit School District 300.
While working in District 300, she taught nearly all grade levels and also served as a library/media specialist. She taught journalism at Du Quoin High School in 1981-82 and from 1987 to 1996. She had previously taught journalism and mass media at Marissa High School from 1971 to 1975.
Sarah’s work as a journalism educator received recognition at the regional, state and national levels multiple times.
Her honors included the Southern Illinois Press Association’s Newspaper Adviser of the Year Award in 1986, the national JEA’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2005, and the IJEA’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2017.
She was also among the inaugural class of inductees into the IJEA Hall of Fame in 2008.
It was during Sarah’s 10-year service as IJEA president that the groundwork was laid for the 2016 passage of the Illinois New Voices Act, which increased protections for student press rights.
Also during Sarah’s tenure, IJEA’s website expanded its operations and the IJEA newspaper contest embraced digital media with new categories and an online-only submission process.
Upon hearing of Sarah’s passing, her IJEA colleagues were quick to share their recollections of her kindness and generosity, her devotion to her students, and her steady leadership of the organization. Several of their tributes follow below.
DAVE PORRECA
IJEA president, 2001-2004; former adviser, University of Illinois Laboratory High School
“Sarah was the supreme advocate for recognizing the work of student journalists from smaller schools throughout the state.”
One of the reasons I’ve been involved with IJEA for nearly 30 years is because of the welcoming nature of its members, from veteran board officers to first-year advisers. No one was more welcoming, more kind and more generous with her time than Sarah Doerner.
As anyone who knew Sarah can attest, she always greeted you with a hug and many questions about how you and your family were doing. My wife met Sarah only a few times at IJEA events, but when I told her the sad news of Sarah’s passing, she immediately recalled the occasions when she and Sarah had chatted.
As president of IJEA, Sarah oversaw a busy decade of change as our organization adapted to the new multimedia landscape of digital journalism. Whenever revisions to IJEA’s contests and events were proposed, Sarah enthusiastically supported embracing the new. But she always asked how any proposed change would affect students from schools located outside populous metropolitan areas, such as the schools she had taught in for decades in her beloved Southern Illinois.
And this was probably Sarah’s greatest contribution to IJEA. Sarah was the supreme advocate for recognizing the work of student journalists from smaller schools throughout the state.
Because of this, we constantly strive to recognize the work of small schools in our various competitions. I recently had the pleasure of looking at the entries in our 2024 Yearbook Contest, and I was overwhelmed by the quality of work done by schools with under 1,000 enrollment. Sarah would have been so proud!
BRAD BENNEWITZ
IJEA president, 2016-2018; teacher, Galesburg High School
“I learned much from her steady guidance, which I tried to replicate…”
Sarah was a true friend, leader and mentor through our shared experiences representing scholastic journalism in Illinois. Sarah was president of the IJEA board when I became a regional director in 2009, and she was immediately welcoming and strived to make sure I was comfortable and not intimidated in my new position.
During our years of working together, she remained among the first to welcome me at every meeting and was genuinely concerned and curious to know how I was — that my life-work balance was in check, that I wasn’t facing any challenges in scholastic journalism and that my family and I were all well.
She was firm in her leadership, knowing what to do when various situations arose and how to respond professionally and appropriately, and she was quiet in doing so. I would often find out after the fact about a role Sarah played in helping to guide the IJEA board or act on its behalf, but she would not seek attention for doing so.
I learned much from her steady guidance, which I tried to replicate when I became president of the IJEA, and she left a void that was a challenge to fill.
JOHN J. GONCZY
IJEA president, 2018-22; former adviser, Marist High School
“Sarah certainly leaves us with a fine example of how to live and work in harmony with other people.”
Upon learning that our cherished friend and colleague Sarah Doerner had died, a sense of gratitude quickly rose to join my great sorrow. She was simply one of the dearest people I’ve ever known.
When we remember those who leave us with a strong sense of thankfulness, then the legacy they leave is clearly one of a life very well lived. Sarah certainly leaves us with a fine example of how to live and work in harmony with other people. I am just one of countless individuals who benefitted from knowing and working with her.
I learned a great deal from Sarah, particularly in my role as vice president during her leadership of the Illinois Journalism Education Association for so many years as president. Sarah’s marvelous combination of intelligence, wisdom, passion and kindness as she approached her professional endeavors provided a strong model for me to follow as a young educator, and she continues to serve as a reminder to me all these years later.
I am tremendously sorry that Sarah has left us. I am even more profoundly grateful that she was with us. May she rest in peace, and may those of us who carry on after her keep Sarah in our minds and hearts always.
SALLY RENAUD
IJEA executive director, 2005-2019; retired journalism professor, Eastern Illinois University
“She was genuinely proud of the efforts of our members to keep journalism education strong…”
When the IJEA turned 20 in 2008, Sarah wanted to celebrate, with food, swag and recognition. And the JEA fall convention in St. Louis provided the perfect opportunity.
She booked a small suite in the convention hotel and planned a breakfast for Illinois advisers — to thank them for their work, to showcase outstanding achievement and to bring us all together. It was such a simple thing. Pastries and coffee. Displays highlighting award-winners. Early morning hugs. And friendship. Quietly, and with little ceremony. It was lovely.
But that’s not to say Sarah didn’t love a ceremony! She was the perfect hostess for the 10 years she led the IJEA as its president, and for the decades she was involved in the organization. She loved to welcome advisers to the Fall Conference, to the All-State Luncheon each June in Springfield, and to the IHSA journalism state tournament Advisers’ Breakfast in April. At each venue she proudly wore the IJEA lapel pin she had designed.
She loved to hand out awards to both advisers and their students. She was genuinely proud of the efforts of our members to keep journalism education strong, and she wanted to do her part to let them know not only how important their job was, but that she understood that the job was part of who they were as people.
The IJEA is lucky to have had Sarah at its helm for so many years, a strong and even hand. She will be missed.
STAN ZOLLER
Former IJEA board member; former adviser, Rolling Meadows High School; retired journalism faculty, Lake Forest College
“…She wanted only the best for the state’s scholastic journalists.”
Sarah was the quintessential IJEA president, board member and journalism educator. She relished student achievement and took pride when students — not just her students, but student journalists across Illinois — were cited for their successes. Her fondness for scholastic journalism was the foundation of her comments at the annual IJEA Award banquet when members of the All-State team and the Journalists of the Year were honored.
Beyond her passion for journalism education was her passion for working with advisers. She always made time to talk with advisers about their students, programs and plans for the future.
Needless to say, she was vitally interested in the development and passage of the Illinois New Voices Act (Speech Rights of Student Journalists Act) because she wanted only the best for the state’s scholastic journalists.
Sarah was more than an IJEA colleague; she was a friend whose friendship I valued and will sorely miss.