It’s the first Mother’s Day on the air at Q1067. And the first chance to share a little bit about the two women responsible for the whole operation: Rosalie Norene Jones and Carol Sue Ducey.
Why two?
Well, it helps to know that the man behind Q1067, Boss Man Jim Stone was adopted as an infant by Charlie and Sue Ducey of Hardin, Ill. Jim was raised, along with his older sister, Liz, just an hour and a half south from where he was born. Charlie and Sue informed him he was adopted when he was old enough to understand, and from that age forward, little Jimmy wondered if Dolly Parton might be his mother. (For that reason, maybe we should have added Dolly to our Mother’s Day tribute.)
Fast forward to 2011 when the state of Illinois changed the laws surrounding adoption records, opening the door for Jim to obtain his original, unaltered birth certificate, which led him to the discovery of his birth mother: Rosalie Jones of Springfield, Ill. Jim documented the search on his blog at his old station in Rockford, Ill., and in June 2012, announced he’d met his birth mother. In August that year, met her son (and his baby brudder), Derrick, who was born in 1977 (and who, up until that point, had blissfully lived as a spoiled-rotten only child).
The entire story is documented in the Rockford Register-Star, as is the meeting between Charlie and Rosalie. It’s an absolutely wonderful story (if we do say so ourselves, and we do.)
Now, Q1067 is on the air. A long-time dream of Jim’s come to fruition. And, because the brothers have formed an inseparable bond, Derrick’s in on the action behind the scenes managing the Q1067 website, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram feeds. (As it turns out, as Jim developed a career in radio, Derrick developed a career in communications with a natural love of radio. Talk about the power of nature vs. nurture!)
But none of it would have been possible without the two remarkable women known to each of their sons as “Mom.”
It’s a rough Mother’s Day here at Q1067, because neither woman survived to see the station or the boys working together. Sue died in 1998; Rosalie died in 2017. But there’s great comfort knowing that they’re looking down from above (cocktails in hand) and taking great joy in the work we’re doing here and knowing they’re behind it.
Happy Mother’s Day, Sue and Rosalie. And Happy Mother’s Day to all who proudly have the title, “Mom”!
-Jim & Derrick
