George Frederick Mohn

CHAMPAIGN-Retired journalism teacher Fred Mohn died Thursday, January 1, 2015 in hospice care with lung cancer. He was 85. Survivors include his wife of 56 years, Audrey; two sons, Douglas of Catonsville, MD, and Alan of Champaign; a sister, Margaret Spear of Northfield MN; five of Audreys brothers and sisters, and their spouses and descendants. He was born in Northfield on August 11, 1929, the son of George W. Mohn and Valborg Kjosness. He graduated from St. Olaf College in Northfield, served in the U.S. Navy, and joined United Press, later United Press International, in Minneapolis in 1956. He married Audrey Ostby in Bismarck, ND on November 15, 1958. George Frederick Mohn worked as a reporter, editor and manager for UP and UPI in eight Midwestern states, most of the time in Illinois in its Chicago and Springfield bureaus. He resigned from UPI as Detroit bureau chief and Michigan manager in 1969 to accept an offer to be editor of the University of Illinois News Bureau at Urbana-Champaign. In 1984, he joined the journalism teaching faculty until he retired in 1999 at age 70. A memorial service may be held at a later date, and his cremated remains will be buried in the Mohn family plot in Northfield. Memorials may be made to scholarship funds at St. Olaf Fund c/o St. Olaf College, 1520 St. Olaf Ave, Northfield, MN 55057, the University of Illinois Foundation P. O. Box 3429 Champaign, IL 61826-3429 or may be given to Good Shepherd Lutheran Church 2101 S. Prospect Ave., Champaign, IL 61820. Please join Freds family in sharing memories of him on his tribute wall at www.sunsetfuneralhome.com