ELK GROVE, CA (MPG) - Retired longtime sports editor of the Elk Grove Citizen, John Hull, began to experience symptoms of Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease at the end of March and was diagnosed about three weeks ago. 

This disease is a rare brain disorder that causes unique changes in brain tissue and affects muscle coordination, thinking and memory, according to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. 

There is no treatment or cure. In recent years, there have been about 500 to 600 cases reported per year in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

Hull is currently at home in hospice care, Hull’s daughter Sylvia Osorno said on her Facebook account. 

According to Osorno, Hull was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma and grew up in Oklahoma City, although his high school education was in Mendham, New Jersey and Littleton, Colorado. 

After high school, Hull received his undergraduate degree from the University of Northern Colorado with a major in journalism and a minor in radio and television. 

Hull went on to achieve his Masters of Education in journalism at the University of Missouri, according to his LinkedIn profile. 

From there, Hull started his career in Cheyenne, Wyoming as a television newscaster. He spent much of his career in radio at KRAE Cheyenne, KQXI Denver, KKCM Minneapolis, KCFA Sacramento and KFBK Sacramento.

Hull arrived at the Elk Grove Citizen in 2013, according to his LinkedIn profile, as an assistant to Jon Gudel, the sports editor, before eventually taking over

the position. 

Outside of his role as a journalist, Hull was a teacher, where he started teaching at Sacramento High School in 2003. 

Eventually, Hull taught both at Cosumnes River College starting in 2004 and Luther Burbank High School from 2005 to 2019 where he taught classes in radio, broadcasting television, digital media and journalism. 

Hull started the journalism

program at Luther Burbank High School. 

Through his work at Luther Burbank High School, Hull won the 2015 Student Educational Video Awards (SEVA) Allan Hinderstein Award. 

In a speech by Thuy Pham at the ceremony in 2015, who is a part of the Creative Connections Arts Academy, Pham said, “Twenty-nine years ago, an amazing CSUS professor named Allen Hinderstein had a vision that recognized the importance and value of media production for teachers.”  

Pham went on to say that since Hinderstein’s passing in 2007 due to cancer, the Student Educational Video Awards honors a teacher who embodies this philosophy. 

“This year’s honoree supports students not only by teaching digital media and journalism on his campus, he is also a local journalist who highlights students sports achievements in our area,”

Pham said. 

When highlighting Hull’s achievements over the years, Pham said that his students had submitted more than 140 entries to the Student Educational Video Awards since 2008. 

Some of Hull’s students from Luther Burbank High School in 2015 were shown in a video package at the award ceremony with Oscar Lara saying, “Mr. Hull is a good teacher and you learn a lot from him. He shows you how to use the programs and the proper technique.” 

Hull “knows how to explain everything perfectly,” said Jennifer Aguilar, a Luther Burbank High School student

in 2015. 

“He’s one of those teachers you can just get along with, you can just look at him and say, ‘Oh that’s a cool teacher,’” said Ariel Ruano, a Luther Burbank High School student in 2015. 

In his acceptance speech, Hull repeatedly said that he

was shocked. 

“I love the industry, but I felt like, ‘What can I do to bring us more people into the industry who were qualified and really loved it, not just pick up a paycheck?’” Hull said. 

It was Hull’s love for the industry that led him to highlight the athletes of the Elk Grove area, according to retired Elk Grove City Councilman and former Vice-Mayor and Mayor Steve Detrick. 

“His demeanor of happiness in seeing the accomplishments of 

all these kids from Elk Grove and he always just had a real basic Christian value to him as he was honest, his integrity, loyal to the community, loyal to his family and loyal to his friends,” Detrick said. 

Detrick first met Hull about 23 years ago through their sons playing baseball together as he was the coach, Detrick said. 

“He (Hull) was one of the dads who was very supportive of all the boys and my first impression was he was a very soft-spoken

genuine man who’s very family-oriented,” Detrick said.

Detrick’s son, Brian, was an 

athlete in the Elk Grove area that Hull covered over the years and Detrick said that this coverage was able to put those athletes on the map. 

“I think what he (Hull) did is he always gave a well-balanced view of what the young men and women were doing so it helped to put Elk Grove athletes on the map,” Detrick said. 

Sharing this same experience is long-time barber shop owner in Elk Grove, David Keen of Dave’s Barber Shop.

“I just saw how genuine and how concerned he was for getting the sports out for the local high schools and colleges. You could tell it was just in his blood, and he put a lot of effort in all his writings about the students and finding out about them and their families. He was a giver of a community,”

Keen said. 

Keen recalls a time when Hull came in at 7 a.m. to his barbershop to have a closed session interview with Rodrigo “RoRo” Lopez, captain and all-time assists leader of Sacramento Republic FC back in 2015. 

“He (Hull) interviewed him (RoRo) as he was getting a haircut in the shop and he came in with the recorder, he was all set and it was just so great and that's what John did. He got up at

7 a.m. and we knew it couldn't be during the day of the business, so we had to make it a closed session.” 

“It was just great how he and RoRo were collaborating about the Sacramento FC and it was just a moment I'll always think of very highly in my career,” Keen continued. 

Keen met Hull first as a client of his at the barber shop where they hit it off through sports. 

“Over 20 years ago, he (Hull) was a teacher at Burbank and he was coming to the shop and that's how I first met him. He’s a sports enthusiast and that's how the conversation kind of always went, it was through sports. Just a good guy and we connected really well, really quick,” Keen said. 

Dave Hoskins, longtime head coach at Elk Grove High School, was on the receiving end of Hull’s questions over the years until Hoskins’ retirement.

On a Citizen Sports Podcast from Jan. 18, 2024, Hull named Hoskins as one of the “GOATS” (greatest of all time) among local high school football coaches. 

“He was always very gracious, very nice, easy to get along with, asked good questions, never tried to embarrass anybody, just a first-class guy,” Hoskins said.

One of Hull’s passions is teaching at First Church of the Nazarene in Sacramento, where Hull’s wife, Marcia Hull, is

the pastor. 

Keen recalls a time when Hull and the community at the church were handing out clothes to the less fortunate and Keen went to donate clothes. 

“He (Hull) was in charge of that and I would bring clothes down to 28th and S so they could be handed out to the less fortunate and that was a pretty big organization that was run down there,” Keen said. 

Not only did Hull help out with donation drives like the one mentioned by Keen but Hull was an administrator at the church who would run the offices of the church, controlled the sounds for services, preach during services and even played an oboe during services, Keen said.  

Among other passions Hull had were golfing, fishing, baseball especially when he would coach his sons and anything sports, Osorno said. 

The outpour of support for Hull can be seen on social media with many sharing their experiences and anecdotes of Hull under Osorno’s posts as she updates her father’s health status. 

If you would like to donate a meal for Hull, visit mealtrain.com to donate a meal as he is in hospice care at home.