Renee Ferguson, who spent more than two decades as a television reporter in Chicago, was a gifted storyteller.
Ms. Ferguson made history when she became the first Black woman to work as an investigative reporter in Chicago TV news.
“She was a champion of good journalism and a powerful force who not only told stories, but really got into this business to make a difference, to change lives, to help people,” said Regina Waldroup, an NBC5 reporter who was mentored by Ms. Ferguson. “I think that some of us have forgotten that along the way, but she never did.”
Among her many honors, Ms. Ferguson received seven Chicago Emmy awards, was a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University and won an Alfred I. duPont–Columbia University Award for investigative reporting. She was a member of the Chicago chapter of the National Association of Black Journalists.
Ms. Ferguson, 75, died Friday while in home hospice care.
She was born Aug. 22, 1949, in Oklahoma. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Indiana University-Bloomington in 1971.
She kicked off a longtime career in Chicago when she was hired as a reporter at CBS2 in 1977.
In 1983, she left Channel 2 to work as a network correspondent for CBS News in Atlanta.
But Ms. Ferguson returned to Chicago in 1987 when she was hired at NBC5. She remained with the station until she retired in 2008.
“She was an amazing investigator. Had great instincts,” said friend Marion Brooks, a news anchor and reporter at NBC5. “She had a real gift to help people open up and was an amazing storyteller, and a great writer. She knew how to craft a story to really pull out the heartfelt moments and would make people care.”
Ms. Ferguson used her platform to give people a voice, Brooks said.
“Renee Ferguson left an incredible echo in our newsroom that still rings through the DNA of our investigative journalism, and that legacy will continue,” Kevin Cross, president and general manager of NBCU Local Chicago, told NBC5.
Her reporting helped lead to the exoneration of Tyrone Hood — a man who was wrongfully convicted of murder and armed robbery in the 1993 slaying of a star basketball player at the Illinois Institute of Technology.
She wrote many stories about the case, including her last story at NBC5.
Hood’s sentence was commuted in 2015 by Gov. Pat Quinn.
In an interview with NBC5, Ms. Ferguson said commuting Hood’s sentence was the last thing Quinn did on his last day as governor because she called him at the last minute.
Waldroup was Ms. Ferguson’s intern when she began investigating Hood’s case and remembered her mentor was “determined” to tell his story and get him released.
“I like to say I’m a workhorse now, and it’s all because of this woman,” Waldroup said. “I want to do stories that make a difference. Because, just like my mentor, I love what I do, maybe too much. I don’t give 100%; I give 150% because of everything Renee taught me.”
But Ms. Ferguson was more than just a reporter, she was a friend to many.
“I learned so much from Renee Ferguson. She made countless lives better through her brilliant investigative journalism — as well as her mentorship of young people looking to make a difference. I’m so sad to learn of her passing, but also know that her impact and example will live on across Chicagoland and far beyond,” Pete Buttigieg, former U.S. secretary of transportation, wrote on X.
I learned so much from Renee Ferguson. She made countless lives better through her brilliant investigative journalism—as well as her mentorship of young people looking to make a difference. I’m so sad to learn of her passing, but also know that her impact and example will live on…
— Pete Buttigieg (@PeteButtigieg) June 6, 2025
Brooks said Ms. Ferguson “had a way of embracing people and making them like family.” Ms. Ferguson was one of the first to welcome Brooks to Chicago, where they forged a close friendship over the years. Ms. Ferguson was also godmother to one of Brooks’ daughters.
Ms. Ferguson spent her last days leaning on her faith in God and thinking of the afterlife, said Waldroup, who visited her Tuesday.
“She asked me what I wanted in my career, and I said, ‘I want to keep telling stories and helping people just like you,'” Waldroup said. “She told me that I was like her daughter, and I was so good to her.”
Ms. Ferguson’s husband, Ken Smikle, died in 2018. She is survived by a son, Jason Smikle.
Services are pending.
Editor’s note: An earlier version of this obituary incorrectly said that Renee Ferguson was a founding member of the Chicago chapter of the National Association of Black Journalists.