Earl J.J. Pionke – for whom the Earl of Old Town club was named – died Friday afternoon

Earl J.J. Pionke – for whom the Earl of Old Town club was named – died Friday afternoon.
 
The club he owned, a famous near North Side haunt that helped launch the careers of many folk singer-songwriters, closed more than 30 years ago after a decades-long stretch as one of the country’s most famous folk-music venues.
 
Pionke was 80, and had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer about this time last year.
 
No funeral or wake is planned – a concert last year at FitzGerald’s in Berwyn was how he wanted to go out, his publicist and friend of 40 years said Friday night.
 
“The day after his 80th birthday, we had 24 musicians, 850 people in attendance, a huge concert,” said his publicist. “For more than six hours. Earl then told his son Joe, he didn’t want any wake or anything with his body present. … that party I put on was the way he wanted it to be.”