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John Ensslin, former national president of the Society of Professional Journalists, and former president of the SPJ Colorado Pro Chapter, died in Denver on Aug. 5, 2019. He was honored with a resolution at SPJ national’s Excellence in Journalism conference in San Antonio on Sept. 7, 2019.

Resolution No. 1 
Remembering Former SPJ President John Ensslin
Submitted by: Director At-Large Lauren Bartlett, Region 3 director Michael Koretzky
Delegate Action: Approved

WHEREAS the Society of Professional Journalists lost one of its most respected — and yes, best-loved — leaders when John Ensslin died in August at 65 years old;

WHEREAS John was such an ink-in-the-veins journalist, he would’ve cringed if this resolution had said he “passed away”;

WHEREAS John was SPJ president for the 2011-12 year, serving with rare distinction and training a new generation of SPJ leaders;

WHEREAS John was the driving force behind the SPJ Education Committee’s publishing of “Still Captive? History, Law and the Teaching of High School Journalism” as a tool for educators; 

WHEREAS John also volunteered as SPJ’s first podcast host, creating the program from scratch and interviewing SPJ leaders on a wide range of topics for many years;

WHEREAS John also served as president of the Denver Press Club and was inducted into its Hall of Fame;

WHEREAS John won many awards for his coverage, which ranged from the serious (the murder of JonBenet Ramsey) to the light-hearted (Queen Elizabeth visiting Wyoming);

WHEREAS John transitioned from New Jersey to Denver to New Jersey and back to Denver during his journalistic career, but he still found time to expand his talents to new media and train others with the knowledge he acquired;

WHEREAS John always loved baseball and made time to see games wherever he was and whenever possible, getting together with his beloved wife, Denise, family and friends because dinner, drinks and laughs made John happiest;

WHEREAS John touched the lives of everyone he met in some way and his death leaves a void not likely to be filled, and those who knew and loved him will surely say it was an honor to know him;

WHEREAS John was such a modest guy that he’d be embarrassed by this resolution and would likely dismiss it with his trademark grin — and would probably recommend edits to tighten it up before suggesting the names of other SPJers who deserve it more;

THEREFORE LET IT BE RESOLVED that SPJ, meeting in convention on September 7, 2019 in San Antonio or wherever they may read this, stand up right now and applaud loud enough for John Ensslin to hear it.