Final Salute

John Reddy, a fixture in Birmingham community based journalism for many decades, passed away early on January 3, 2025. John was born in Chicago, Illinois, July 26, 1932, where he grew up with his mother and father, John Leo and Nellie, and his brother, the late Kenneth Reddy. After high school John became an apprentice carpenter before joining the United States Naval Construction Battalions, better known as the Navy Seabees, serving in Cuba, Bermuda and Nova Scotia. He was a proud Navy veteran.
After returning to Chicago as a journeyman carpenter, John enrolled at the University of Illinois at Navy Pier, majoring in Journalism. He moonlighted as a taxi driver. He met Joan Mette, the love of his life, on a blind date on New Year’s Eve 1957. They had a whirlwind romance, married that August and moved to Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, where John concluded his studies and received a Bachelor of Science in Journalism.
After graduating, he got a job on the Sterling (IL) Daily Gazette. In 1961 he became a community editor for Paddock Newspapers in the northwestern Chicago suburbs, then moved to the Chicago Sun-Times suburban and city desks in 1963. He moved to Michigan in 1968 to become the Managing Editor of the Birmingham Eccentric. He was integrally involved in the expansion of the Eccentric to other surrounding communities. When the newspaper acquired a chain of community newspapers in the Cincinnati area, John was tapped to run those papers from 1972 to1975. In 1975 he was brought back to Michigan to be Executive Editor of the Observer and Eccentric newspapers, formed the previous year. While he was in charge, the company’s newspapers won more state and national awards for editorial excellence than any other group of community newspapers in the country. He became General Manager and retired as Corporate Vice President for Editorial in 1998.
John was a passionate lifelong learner and after retirement enjoyed travel, theater, and fine art with Joan, learning Spanish (including a stint as a foreign exchange student in Mexico), and was uniquely interested in the personal story of everyone he met. His interests spanned from watercolor painting and play writing to piano playing. He was an active member and a past president of Birmingham Village Players and a founding member of Playwrights at Work. In recent years he was also actively involved in the Birmingham Senior Men’s Club. Family was very important to John and he shared his life experiences and the lessons learned with his many grandchildren.
In addition to Joan, his wife of over 67 years and his best friend, John is survived by his children Mark Reddy (Leesa), Catherine White (Kenneth), Matthew Reddy (Susan), and Jessica Hoeck (Steve), grandchildren Christopher White (Katie), Caroline Higgins (Bradley), Bridget Reddy, Alex Hoeck, Reily Reddy (Ellie), Ian Hoeck, James Reddy and Emily Hacker (Klayton), and great-grandchildren Charlotte and Isabel Higgins. John was predeceased by his brother Ken and his granddaughter Rachel Reddy.
Visitation will take place at Lynch & Sons Funeral Home, 1368 N. Crooks Road (between 14-15 Mile Roads) Tuesday, January 14th (3)4-8pm. A Funeral Mass will be celebrated at St. Thomas More Church, 4580 N. Adams Road, Troy, Wednesday, January15th, 11am. Friends may visit at church beginning at 10:30am.
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