Jack Payan
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jack Louis Payan was born on Chicago's south side on September 18, 1930. He was raised in Markham, Illinois, and graduated from Thornton Township High School in nearby Harvey, Illinois in 1948.
Jack graduated from Eastern Illinois University in 1952 with a B.S. Degree in Education. He was a speech major with minors in journalism and history. He served as sports editor of the college newspaper and yearbook, and was inducted into Pi Delta Epsilon, a national honorary Journalism fraternity. He has remained active with the university and has served on the foundation board. He has also established the Jack L. Payan Scholarship at the school. Eastern named Jack a Distinguished Alumnus in 1983 and a "Centennial 100" Honoree in 1994.
Payan served in the U.S. Army during 1953-54 and was stationed at 2nd Armoured Division Headquarters at Bad Kreuznach, Germany. He became sports editor of the division newspaper Hell on Wheels and also wrote sports for Stars & Stripes, the Overseas Weekly and Army Times.
After a brief stint as sports editor of the Matoon Daily Journal Gazette, he entered the insurance business as a local independent agent in the Chicago area and remained in that capacity until retiring in 2006. He served as president of the Chicago Board of Underwriters, the Independent Insurance Agents of Illinois and the Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of America. He is the only person ever to lead all three associations. During those years he authored countless columns and articles on insurance subjects both in Illinois and nationally.
In 1991 the national association published Soaring With Eagles, a definitive history of the association which was founded in Chicago
in 1895. Jack was co-writer and participating author of the book. In 2001 he wrote a family history and autobiography entitled Nobody
Ever Said Speak Up, Jack. His history of Company L, 129th Inantry, 33rd Division in World War I, Kankakee Doughboys, was published
in 2008.
Jack Payan passed away December 1, 2013. He is survived by his wife of 61 years, Ann, four sons, ten grandchildren and two great-children. Jack was a Rotarian and was a life member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the Society of Chartered Property Casualty Underwriters.