His name has been known to many throughout the area, specifically in and around Sandwich, Yorkville and his native Plano. His distinctive deep voice probably even more so. Jim “Teck” Teckenbrock, the iconic voice of local sports coverage on WSPY radio over the last three decades, passed away on June 25, 2025, at age of 76 due to complications from pneumonia. Teckenbrock, whose connections to Waubonsee Community College stretched back over 50 years, was fondly remembered over the weekend at Our Savior’s Lutheran Church in Sandwich and laid to rest this past Monday at Little Rock Township Cemetery in Plano.
Teckenbrock graduated from Plano High School in 1966 and served in the Navy from 1967 to 1971. He did a tour in Vietnam aboard the USS Dubuque before eventually enrolling at Waubonsee at the age of 23. Teckenbrock transferred to Northern Illinois University where he earned a Sociology degree with a double minor in English and Physical Education. He then returned to Waubonsee in 1977 to teach and coach, serving as the intramural director and as an assistant baseball coach for two seasons. In 1979 Teckenbrock helped start the Chiefs’ women’s basketball program as the first head coach, guiding the team for five years. From 1981 through 1984 he was the head coach for the softball team as well, helping direct the team to the 1982 Skyway Conference title.
At the same time, his coaching stints led to his first broadcasting experience at WMRO in Aurora. Teckenbrock lent his coaching eye and expertise to the coverage of numerous games in the 1980’s before he eventually joined WSPY in 1996. Over the last 29 years he called the action of an innumerable amount of local high school sporting events, in all kinds of weather and from a wide variety of vantage points. From Oswego to Sycamore to Somonauk to Morris, and all points in between, he was the defining voice for thousands of families as he did play-by-play of their student athletes’ triumphs and tragedies on the field or court. As recently as two weeks ago he called all the action as Oswego captured the IHSA Class 4A Softball State Championship in Peoria.
Each year Teckenbrock broadcast more than 100 boys’ and girls’ basketball games, and he has been a fixture at the Plano Christmas Classic basketball tournament the last two decades. With plenty of hot tea, honey, lemon juice and whatever his vocal chords needed, he annually described the action of 30 games or more over the five-day tournament each year. Teckenbrock also covered football, baseball, softball, soccer and wrestling. In addition, over the last 20 years he hosted his own Saturday Morning Sports Show and gave daily sports reports six days a week, including detailing the latest exploits of Waubonsee’s teams as well. His sincere passion and unprecedented dedication for the local teams and athletes he covered is a cornerstone of his lasting legacy.
Not surprisingly, accolades, awards and recognition were bestowed upon him over the years. Teckenbrock was named one of Waubonsee’s “Fabulous 40” during the college’s 40-year celebration in 2006. He was inducted into the Plano Reapers’ Hall of Fame in 2011, was enshrined into Waubonsee’s Athletic Hall of Fame in 2012 and into the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association as a media member in 2014. Teckenbrock was also honored by the Little Ten Conference and Yorkville High School, among others. More recently the Illinois Softball Coaches Association selected him their Sportsperson of the Year in 2024. “I consider it a privilege and a pleasure to cover the outstanding young women and men in our communities,” declared Teckenbrock a decade ago. “My reward is when people tell me they appreciate what we do at WSPY. They love hearing about their kids, grandkids and siblings on the radio. That’s my Hall of Fame. Not only bringing the action to them but also helping people hear about these student athletes and future leaders in our area.”
When he was not doing play-by-play of local sporting events, he was often playing sports himself. Teckenbrock competed in football, basketball, baseball and track in high school. As an adult he continued to get his ‘sports fix’ in local leagues playing baseball, fastpitch softball, basketball, and bowling, as well as umpiring for area schools and recreational leagues. When he wasn’t playing himself or reporting on sports, Teckenbrock was the Executive Director of the Sandwich Economic Development Corporation, a member of the Sandwich Chamber of Commerce, the Plano American Legion and the Sandwich VFW. He was even a long-time participant and then later on an announcer for the Illinois Special Olympics’ Polar Plunge. But it was his little “part-time radio gig” that made him a local legend.
Teckenbrock leaves behind his wife of 17 years Leann, along with his five children, Jim, Jill, Jay, T.J. and Taylor, two stepchildren Johnny and Angela, seven grandchildren, many beloved nieces, nephews, great nieces and nephews, friends, student athletes and sports fans throughout the tri-county area.
—Waubonsee Community College