Thomas Jennings Pace Jr.

CARBONDALE - Thomas Jennings Pace Jr., professor emeritus of Communication Studies at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, died June 18, 2024, at his home in Turlock, California, surrounded by family.

He was born on June 22, 1929, in Wichita Falls, Texas, and grew up in neighboring Iowa Park, a small rural town in North Texas. His father, Thomas J. Pace Sr., was a prominent pioneer of Wichita County, and his mother, Perle Ernestine Burkhead Pace, was a teacher in the Iowa Park Schools. In his youth, Tom worked on the family farm, and developed his leadership and speaking skills in various Methodist church groups.

These experiences led him to enroll at Southwestern University, a Methodist University, in Georgetown, Texas, where he received his bachelor (1949) and master (1953) degrees in Speech and Theater. He earned his PhD in 1957 from the University of Denver in Rhetoric and Public Address after successfully defending his dissertation "Dynamics Found in Small Group Discussion." At University of Denver, he was one of the early teaching assistants to be a part of Dr. Elwood Murray's "Lab in Interpersonal Communication." An emerging interest in the intersection of Philosophy and Communication led him to a post-doc appointment at Northwestern University in Evanston, where he studied Existentialism and Phenomenology of Communication with Dr. Earl Bradley from 1963-1965.

In 1965, Tom began his 29 years at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale where he was instrumental in establishing concentrations in Philosophy of Communication and Political Communication in the Department of Speech Communication. These two concentrations were designated as official interest groups at the International Communication Association conference in Berlin in 1977, as proposed by him and colleagues Dr. Keith Sanders and Dr. Richard Lanigan. Pace was elected President of the Faculty Senate for two terms (1971-73) during a time of nationwide instability. During the Vietnam War protests on campus, Tom helped stabilize campus unrest as President of the Faculty Senate by codeveloping University Working Papers approved by the faculty. He was the director of departmental graduate students in Speech Communication for 20 years and was involved in developing Field Studies as a research modality. Later he was instrumental in creating Philosophical methodologies, especially those considered Phenomenological. In his 29 years at SIUC, he directed 50 Doctoral dissertations and was on 276 dissertation committees. His teaching and research interests were in Philosophy of Communication, Rhetoric and Public Address, General Semantics, Psychodrama, Political Communication, Phenomenology, Semiotics, Sociometry, and Interpersonal Communication.

He felt his greatest recognition was being included in Communication Quarterly's "Great Teacher in the Communication Classroom." He was honored by the National Communication Association with the prestigious Wallace Bacon Lifetime Teaching Excellence Award and was later inducted into the Central States Communication Association Hall of Fame for his contributions "to the discipline of communication through meritorious scholarship, teaching/mentoring, participation at conventions, and service to the association." In the following years, SIU honored Tom with an award in his name for excellence in graduate student teaching, the Thomas Pace Outstanding Teacher Award.

After his retirement in 1994, Tom was active for several years in the Illinois Speech and Theater Association, becoming president in 2000. He was thrilled to be surrounded by creative high school teachers allowing him to relive the vitality of his early teaching years. ISTA presented him with the Edith Harrod Award and later the WP Sandford Award. Tom felt these years served as a punctuation for his contribution to the field of Speech Communication. Moreover, they served to remind Tom of the wonderful colleagues and students who gave rich meaning to his life. For his colleagues and students, the profound appreciation has been mutual.

Tom maintained an impressive collection of notes from former students and colleagues filled with gratitude for his impact on their lives inside and outside of the classroom. Common themes among the sentiments are that Tom taught them: processes for perceiving the world differently, thereby sharpening their understanding not only of others but themselves; the importance of approaching the world with wonder rather than certainties that stymie one's growth; and the invaluable worth of coming to understand what it means to be human. Even with all of the recognition he received over his lifetime, his effect on others is immeasurable.

Tom and his wife, Tommye, moved from Carbondale to Turlock, in 2013 to be near their daughter Jennifer and her family, where she and her husband John teach at California State University, Stanislaus. He and Tommye celebrated 50 years of marriage in 2023.

Tom is survived by his wife Tommye Kaye Pace, along with two sons and a daughter, Dr. Thomas Pace III (Dee and daughters Katie Pace, Coatney Cobble, Kendall Monroe, Calley Jones, and Caroline Murphy), of Houston, Texas; John Bradley Pace (Jennifer), of Washington D.C.; Dr. Jennifer Pace Wittman (John and sons James and Ethan) of Turlock, California; and 13 great-grandchildren.

He is preceded in death by a daughter, Dr. Patricia Pace (Richard Flynn) of Statesboro, Georgia. He is also survived by a brother, Robert K. Pace (Doyleen) of Rancho Santa Fe; two nephews and four nieces.

Memorials can be sent to the Southern Illinois University Foundation to be entered in the Patricia Pace Memorial Endowment devoted to the Patti Pace Performance Festival. To donate online visit: https://siuf.org/give/. Under the "designation" field, type "Patricia Pace" and click on "Patricia Pace Memorial Endowment Fund." To donate by check, make payable to "SIU Foundation," and on the memo line, write "Patricia Pace Memorial Endowment Fund." Send the check to: School of Communication Studies, 1100 Lincoln Dr., Mailcode 6605, Carbondale, IL, 62901.