Daniel E. “DT” Thornburgh, 80, the founder of the Eastern journalism department, died Thursday night at the Odd Fellow-Rebekah Home, 201 Lafayette Ave., Mattoon.

For more than 30 years, Thornburgh was involved with the Eastern community as an educator and administrator.

Thornburgh is survived by his wife, Adrianne Thornburgh, whom he was married to for more than 54 years. Thornburgh is also survived by his three children: his daughter, Deborah Considine, of Terre Haute, Ind., and sons Stewart, of Gurnee, and Malcom, of Mattoon.

Thornburgh had four grandchildren.

The Eastern and Charleston communities lost a long-time mentor and a once-active participant in the local government; however, Adrianne Thornburgh, said friends and family will not be mourning the loss of a friend and colleague.

She said, instead they will come to celebrate a life.

In 1959, Thornburgh came to Eastern as the director of information.

“When we arrived here we said we would only stay a couple years, but we are still here,” Adrianne Thornburgh said. “Eastern is such a friendly and nice place we always came back.”

Six years after beginning at Eastern, Thornburgh became the director of journalism studies in the English department.

Thornburgh began to work toward making journalism its own department in 1974, which came to fruition five years later in 1979. He then served as the department chairman until 1984.

During this time, he strived to make the Eastern student newspaper into a daily publication.

Adrianne Thornburgh said in the years before he moved into the Odd Fellow-Rebekah Home, every day he was supposed to walk.

“But he never liked walking anywhere unless he was going somewhere,” she said. “So every morning he would wait until the Eastern News was printed and he would walk from our house to the university and pick up his edition. That way he would have a reason for walking.”

While working at Eastern, Thornburgh served as a visiting professor at the University of Hawaii from 1980-1983, and after retiring from Eastern in 1992 he taught at the University of Florida from 1994-1995 and Milikin University in Decatur.

“And with all of small side trips we still ended up here,” Adrianne Thornburgh said. “He really loved all of these years with Eastern and Charleston.”

Thornburgh’s legacy spreads beyond campus and into the Charleston community.

He served on the City Council for four years, from 1973-1977 and was one of the leading supporters in the restoration of the Five Mile House.

This historical site is located south of Charleston on Route 130 and is one of the oldest structures in Coles County. Thornburgh also served the Charleston Rotary Club and was inducted into the district’s Hall of Fame in 2004. The visitation will start at 2 p.m. Saturday at the Wesley United Methodist Church, 2206 Fourth St. A church service will follow the visitation.

No burial will take place at this time, Adrianne Thornburgh said since Thornburgh was cremated the family plans to wait until spring to bury the ashes when the weather is nice.

Kayleigh Zyskowski can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected]