OWNER/AUDIOLOGIST

A central Illinois native hailing from the (very) small town of Towanda, Tessa received her Bachelor’s degree at Illinois State University, and received her Master’s degree from the Central Institute for the Deaf at Washington University St. Louis. She joined Morton Audiology in 2004, after experiencing the “assembly-line audiology” that is present in many bigger offices, and realizing that her niche was in providing more personal care.

After nine years of calling Morton Audiology “home,” in 2013, Tessa became owner of the practice. She continues the original vision for Morton Audiology as a hometown business, with success being defined by patient loyalty and the practice’s reputation, not by the bottom line.

Tessa also provided audiology services at Carle Eureka Hospital 2004-2018, when she realized that as the sole audiologist, she couldn’t care properly for two offices until human cloning became available.

Tessa’s passion is in taking the time to truly communicate and connect with patients, discovering their needs, and addressing those issues. Her non-pretentious manner puts people at ease, and her thorough explanations of options available are appreciated by those who have been leery of hearing healthcare in the past. Many patients have returned after testing the waters elsewhere, realizing that she is uncommonly dedicated to understanding and providing the best possible hearing for each individual.

OFFICE MANAGER & AUDIOLOGY ASSISTANT

Don earned his Bachelor’s degree in Nursing from the OSF St. Francis College of Nursing. Don has worked in many aspects of healthcare and brings that knowledge to Morton Audiology as our full-time Office Manager, Front Office Staff, Technology Manager, and Certified Audiology Assistant.

He has a gift for out-of-the-box thinking that can take large scale concepts and adapt them to our small business needs. In the post pandemic years he has brought an office management system to allow for online scheduling for our clients, along with allowing for better communication with other healthcare offices.

Through all of his IT work and extensive knowledge base from what he has built for us at Morton Audiology, he has also helped technologically network and startup other audiology/hearing aid dispensing clinics, including a client in the UK!

He is also the one we trust to “go to battle” for our patients to receive their insurance benefits.

Don, a hearing aid wearer himself, also serves as a beta tester for new technology - we don’t recommend to others hearing aids we haven’t listened to ourselves.

AUDIOLOGY EXTERN

Born and raised locally here in Peoria, Makenzie received her Bachelors in Speech and Hearing Science from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) and is excited to finish her doctorate of Audiology from the University of Illinois as well, in May of 2027. While at the University of Illinois she served on Circle K as the Kiwanis-Family chair, served as the secretary on the UIUC Student Academy of Audiology Chapter, and runs locally as a St. Jude runner. She chose audiology as her career because she loves to help people and make a difference. While working towards her audiology degree, she has had the opportunity to utilize her skills as a volunteer for Special Olympics giving hearing tests, helping residents at local nursing homes by providing hearing aid checks, and completing a clinical rotation at a VA Clinic helping our Veterans.

In her free time, Makenzie loves movies, reading, and going to live concerts. Of course, she bleeds Orange and Blue, and every opportunity she has she watches Fighting Illini sports. Friends and family are very important to her, and especially her three-year-old German Shepard, Ace. Makenzie is very excited to have the opportunity to come back home and be part of the Morton Audiology team. 

FRONT OFFICE STAFF

Floyd Gage is a 2025 Morton High School graduate and now attends ICC, studying environmental sciences and strives to become a park ranger.

Floyd loves being outdoors, and finding “treasures” of various sorts in the woods on hikes. He is a self-described theatre nerd, and has been involved with both MHS and Cornstock Theatre productions, both on stage and backstage. He loves helping out in the office, and enjoys learning new ways he can assist our patients to hear better.

“HUMAN RESOURCES”/TIEBREAKER

When a small business is run by a husband/wife team, every now and then there needs to be an objective third party. That’s when you contact “HR,” and in our case, it’s Lilah. (Joking, but that is her unofficial job title).

Lilah graduated from MHS in 2026, and is an employee at the Peoria Zoo while attending ICC with a focus on conservation and animal sciences, with the goal being to attend Swansea University (in the UK) in fall of 2028, majoring in Zoology.

HA CLEANER EXTRAORDINAIRE

Quin (who also goes by Zephi) manages donations of old/nonfunctional hearing aids that need cleaned to be sent off to mission groups. Meticulous to the point of the task taking forever, they make sure that the donations given to us will be ready to be used to make someone’s life better.