Orion Samuelson

Samuelson, 91, died of natural causes Monday at his home in Huntley, said his wife, Gloria. Samuelson previously lived in Northbrook and Glenview.
Born in 1934, Samuelson grew up in a farmhouse with no indoor plumbing in Wisconsin's Kickapoo Valley, where he helped his father on the family farm.
After graduating from Ontario High School in Ontario, Wisconsin, in 1951, Samuelson briefly attended the University of Wisconsin in Madison before attending a broadcasting school in Minneapolis, from which he graduated in 1952.
He then worked at several radio stations in Wisconsin, including WKLJ in Sparta starting in 1952, and then at WHBY in Appleton in 1954.
In 1956, Samuelson joined WBAY, a television and radio station in Green Bay, as farm director. In a 2009 interview with the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library, he called WBAY "a pioneer in farm television."
In September 1960, the then-general manager of WGN-AM and WGN-Ch. 9, Ward Quaal, hired Samuelson as the station's farm service director - a busy role.
While such a position might sound anachronistic by today's standards, in the 1950s and 1960s, WGN - which had a clear channel radio signal - provided services and produced programs popular with farm audiences in 276 counties in a nine-state area, including farm news, interviews with farming experts, immediate and long-range weather reports and livestock and commodity quotes, with direct reports from Chicago's Union Stock Yards.
Samuelson said he didn't imagine remaining on WGN's airwaves for 60 years.
"I thought I'd stay five years, and get WGN on my resume and then move back to Wisconsin, and buy a radio station" he told the station in an interview.
Over the years, Samuelson - known by colleagues as "The Big O" - was promoted to vice president and director of agricultural services at WGN. By the mid-1980s, Samuelson and associate Max Armstrong were delivering 13 daily agribusiness reports for WGN and 14 daily reports for the Tribune's radio network.
Samuelson wasn't only a radio personality. From the outset, he also appeared on WGN-Ch. 9, including on short TV newscasts and hosting an early morning weekday show, "Top O' the Morning."
In 1975, Samuelson began hosting "U.S. Farm Report," a half-hour weekend TV program syndicated to more than 150 stations that reached more than half the nation's farmers at its peak.
He also took part in a half-hour, early-morning, weekday TV newscast called "Chicago's First Report," from 1980 until its cancellation in December 1984.
"'Big O' not only commanded radio - he commanded television," Spike O'Dell , retired WGN morning host said. "He had a huge television following. Everywhere he went, he was the Bruce Springsteen of a farm show, wherever that was, whether the Wisconsin State Fair or the Illinois State Fair. He was the star of the show and he was a rock star in that world and he helped carve that all out himself. He made it that way. There wasn't a farm barn radio that wasn't tuned to WGN back in the day, when he and Max were telling farmers what their grain was worth, what their cows were worth, and just pertinent news to agriculture." "When he was in the room, everybody knew it," recalled Spike O'Dell. He commanded the room. He was the big guy-and he made himself from a kid on a farm in Wisconsin to literally the biggest voice in agriculture in the United States, you could argue"
One of Samuelson's most visible radio commitments was co-hosting a midday farm news show on the radio, "The Noon Show," which predated Samuelson's tenure at WGN and was called "Country Fair" until sometime in the 1970s.
Samuelson began appearing on the show concurrent with his hire by the station in 1960, and for the final 26 years the program aired, he co-hosted it with Max Armstrong. In summers, the duo hosted the show live from state and county fairs in Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin.
WGN cancelled "The Noon Show" in 2004, citing substantial declines in advertising geared to the agricultural industry. After the show's cancellation, Samuelson and Armstrong continued delivering one- to two-minute reports on WGN throughout the day.
"The Noon Show" continued airing on Saturdays. The duo also returned to a rebooted "Noon Show" hosted by Bob Sirott in 2007.
In his reporting, Samuelson felt a commitment to eliminate any gap between city and country residents.
"If you eat, you are involved with agriculture," Samuelson told the Tribune in 1985.
In 1996, Samuelson and Armstrong left WGN as full-time employees, though they continued to be heard on the station and continued to host the syndicated "Farm Report" TV show, which Samuelson hosted and produced until 2005.
Samuelson remained on WGN until retiring in 2020.
Outside of work, Samuelson long had an interest in politics. There was a movement in 1980 to persuade the next president to appoint Samuelson as U.S. secretary of agriculture. And in 2004, Samuelson was approached with the idea of running for the U.S. Senate from Illinois as a Republican against Barack Obama, which he declined due to health reasons at that time.
Samuelson was inducted into the Chicago Journalism Hall of Fame in 1996, and he was inducted into the Chicago Television Academy's Silver Circle in 2000. He was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 2003. The same year, the National Association of Farm Broadcasters named Samuelson 2003 Farm Broadcaster of the Year. In 2005, he was inducted into the Illinois Broadcasters Association's Hall of Fame.
With an authoritative and rich baritone voice, Orion Samuelson delivered critical information for farmers across the Midwest during a 60-year career as WGN-AM radio's agribusiness reporter.
With flair and confidence, Samuelson reported on subjects like pork bellies and wheat prices, becoming something of a one-man multimedia machine on Chicago's airwaves. In addition to his radio work, Samuelson was a mainstay on WGN's sister TV station, WGN-Ch. 9, and he later dabbled in satellite TV as well.
In November 2005, Orion and Max Armstrong partnered again and launched, "This Week in Agri- Business", a weekly, one hour program on RFD TV that presents current, useful information about U.S. and global agriculture. TWIA features interviews with farmers, ranchers, government officials and others. A valued member of the TWIA team is Greg Soulje, a veteran meteorologist, presenting very informative weekly regional, ranch and national weather forecasts for the agriculture industry. This partnership ended in 2023, when Orion and Max decided to retire, however, the show continues to be hosted by Mike Pearson with Max continuing to appear with valuable insights into the world of Agriculture.
A first marriage to Nancy Samuelson ended in divorce. Samuelson's second wife, Judith, died of ALS in 2001. In addition to his wife Gloria Samuelson, is survived by a son, David (Carla); a daughter, Kathryn; two grandchildren, Matthew and Grace; a sister, Norma Haakenstad; and many nieces and nephews.
Visitation will be from 4 to 8 p.m. April 9 at DeFiore Funeral & Cremation Service, 10763 Dundee Road, Huntley. A funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. April 10 at Shepherd of the Prairie Lutheran Church, 10805 Main Street, Huntley.
In lieu of flowers memorials may be directed to the following:
Orion and Gloria Sameulson Scholarship in Agriculture Fund 771954- University of Illinois Foundation PO Box 734500, Chicago, Illinois 60673-4500
Illinois Ag Leadership Foundation- www.agleadsership.org/support
NAFB Foundation,1100 Platte Falls Road, Platte City, MO 64079. Or call the NAFB office at 816-431-4032.