GEORGE H. RYAN, SR.
February 24, 1934 - May 2, 2025
GEORGE H. RYAN, SR. Obituary
Kankakee, IL - George H. Ryan, Sr., 39th governor of Illinois - who energized a world-wide effort to abolish the death penalty, saved countless lives by strengthening anti-drunk driving laws and organ donation programs; and led ground-breaking efforts to normalize relations with Cuba - has died peacefully at his home in Kankakee surrounded by his family at the age of 91.
A loving and attentive husband, father, grandfather, and great-grandfather, the centerpiece of Gov. Ryan's life was his wife of 54 years, Lura Lynn, and their family, whom he cared for and nurtured throughout his life. A pharmacist by trade, he continually demonstrated his lifelong commitment to public service, especially the less fortunate in their times of need. In public he was a consummate statesman who worked across party lines to find compromises and win passage of projects and programs. To friends and family, he was also generous and warm-hearted, with a lively and quick-witted personality that showed itself through the ready smile of a proud Irishman. Gov. Ryan began his 35-year career in elected office in 1968 as a member of the Kankakee County Board, later serving as chairman. In 1973 he was elected to represent Kankakee in the Illinois House of Representatives. He served 10 years in the House, including six years as the leader of the Republican caucus and two years as Speaker of the House. In 1983, Gov. Ryan, on a Republican ticket with his good friend James R. Thompson of Chicago, was elected lieutenant governor of Illinois, a position he held for eight years. In 1990 he was elected the 36th Illinois secretary of state. He was re-elected to the office in 1994 by winning 100 of Illinois' 102 counties. He launched his single campaign for governor in 1997. In 2002, Gov. Ryan announced that he would retire from public service. As an elected official, he made a significant impact on Illinois in every office he held. Early in his term as governor, George Ryan was faced with one of the more daunting duties of his position - giving the final OK for the execution of a convicted serial killer. Before granting his approval in that case, he researched capital punishment in Illinois and began to seriously question whether the administration of the state's death penalty law was flawed and unjust. Gov. Ryan based his doubts on the fact that between 1977 and 1999, 12 people had been executed under the law in Illinois, while 13 had been freed from death row based on post-trial evidence that proved they were innocent. Gov. Ryan's uneasiness about the state's capital punishment law deepened in subsequent months as he investigated the situation further. In 2000, calling the administration of the death penalty in Illinois "deeply flawed," he became the first governor in the United States to issue a blanket moratorium on further executions in the state, staying the death sentences of 163 men and women then on death row. While highly controversial at the time, in the decades since, it has become clear that Gov. Ryan's moratorium was a needed antidote to an unreliable capital punishment system as convicted felons continued to be released from death row for capital crimes they did not commit. The governor's moratorium has had a long-lasting effect on the debate over capital punishment. In 2011, more than a decade after the moratorium was established in Illinois, Gov. Ryan's ultimate goal was reached when the state repealed its death penalty. The repeal was based largely on the issues of unfairness and unreliability of the justice system that he raised. And since Gov. Ryan declared the moratorium, 10 other states have abolished the death penalty and five governors have issued blanket moratoriums There are currently 23 states in the U.S. that do not have the death penalty. Since 2000, public support for the death penalty has dropped, and a majority of Americans now believe that the likelihood is high that under current laws, an innocent person could be executed. Gov. Ryan's leadership in opposing the death penalty gained him national and international recognition, especially from death penalty opponents and civil rights activists. In 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009 and in 2010, he was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize because of his leadership on the issue. In 2001 he received the Mario Cuomo Act of Courage Award from Death Penalty Focus and in 2003, he received the Rose Elizabeth Bird Commitment to Justice Award. He also was honored in Italy and by the European Union. In 2003, the Colosseum in Rome was bathed in golden light for two days in honor of Governor Ryan's moratorium. Gov. Ryan's opposition to the death penalty was just one of the policy decisions he made as chief executive that countered his background as a conservative Republican. In reality, his deeply held religious beliefs, based on humanity and decency, not political partisanship, were at the heart of many of his policy decisions. In 1999 Gov. Ryan led a groundbreaking and controversial humanitarian mission to Cuba in the wake of a devastating hurricane that struck the island. It was the first visit to the communist country by a sitting United State governor since the U.S. severed ties with Cuba in 1961. As such, it received international attention as one of the first steps designed to change the relationship between the United States and Cuba. Praise for the trip was mixed with opposition from those who sought the continued isolation of the island. Gov. Ryan delivered more than $1 million in humanitarian aid to the island and held several one-on-one meetings with Cuban President Fidel Castro, in which they discussed the expansion of educational and cultural exchanges as well as trade possibilities between Illinois and Cuba. In the
aftermath of Gov. Ryan's mission, U.S.-Cuban relations began to thaw at a greater pace. In the last 23 years, there has been a steady stream of federal and state
government officials, business leaders and cultural groups, and media travelling to Cuba, culminating with President Barack Obama's visit to the island in 2016. Gov. Ryan would visit Cuba twice more at the invitation of the Cuban government. In 1997, as Secretary of State, he won a hard-fought multi-year battle and secured passage of a state law that lowered the legal blood-alcohol content level from .10 percent to .08 percent. In the 25 years since the passage of the .08 law in Illinois, studies have shown that the proportion of drinking drivers in fatal crashes in Illinois dropped sharply after passage of the .08 law. The governor also won passage of a "Use It & Lose It" law that, for the first time, suspended the licenses of underage drivers caught using a vehicle with any alcohol in their blood system. In 1983, Gov. Ryan became one of the nation's strongest advocates for voluntary organ donation across the country, with the creation of the first publicly funded organ donation awareness campaign in the United States. The campaign was tied to a new state law that allowed all drivers to volunteer to be organ donors when receiving their driver's licenses. More than 7 million Illinois residents have registered to be organ donors, one of the largest voluntary donation files in the country, all because of Gov. Ryan's 40-year-old "Life Goes On" campaign. Gov. Ryan was also a builder. One of his proudest achievements was the 1999 passage of the five-year, $12 billion Illinois FIRST infrastructure renewal program, which built 9,500 new school classrooms in every corner of the state, built and refurbished hundreds of miles of
Illinois roads, finished 580 new parks and bike trails, expanded 225 local water and sewer systems, and invested $2 billion in school technology improvements. And ending years of political infighting and stalemate, Gov. Ryan funded and broke ground for the first stages of the $115 million Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield, which today houses some 46,000 Lincoln artifacts. For visitors from around the world, the Library and Museum has become a major research hub centered on the nation's 16th president, as well as a major attraction for school children, history buffs, and tourists. In the later years of his life, Gov. Ryan's significant record of achievement survived undiminished, even after the outcome of a federal investigation into the administration of public contracts while he was secretary of state and governor.
Following a seven-month trial, Gov. Ryan was convicted of numerous felonies stemming from the investigation. He served more than five years of a six-and-a-half-year prison sentence. He returned home to Kankakee after his release. George Homer Ryan, Sr., was born on February 24, 1934 in Maquoketa, Iowa to Jeannette (née Bowman) and Thomas Ryan, a pharmacist. When he was five, Thomas Ryan moved the family briefly to Chicago, and then permanently to Kankakee, Illinois, where he opened a pharmacy.
The future Gov. Ryan worked in his father's two drug stores. After graduating from Kankakee High School, Gov. Ryan was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1954. He served a 13-month tour in Korea, working in a base pharmacy. After his discharge, he attended Ferris State College of Pharmacy (now Ferris State University) in Big Rapids, Michigan.
Returning to the family business after graduation, over time, Gov. Ryan, his brother Tom, sister Katie, and her husband Duane Dean built his father's pair of pharmacies into a successful chain of stores. He sold his interest in the pharmacies in 1990. Tom Ryan was also a prominent political figure in Kankakee County and served several terms as Mayor of Kankakee. On June 10, 1956, Gov. Ryan married his high school sweetheart, Lura Lynn Lowe, whom he had met in an English class. Mrs. Ryan grew up in nearby Aroma Park, where her family had lived since 1834. Her father owned one of the first hybrid seed companies in the United States. Mrs. Ryan was an ever-present partner with the governor during his political career while raising a large family. She was able to energize her own interests in public service. She was a lifelong advocate for children growing up in impoverished or dangerous circumstances. She fought tirelessly against substance abuse addiction and backed prevention services for young children that centered on child safety and early learning classes. Mrs. Ryan was also a strong supporter of the arts, especially Illinois folk arts and crafts. Mrs. Ryan died of lung cancer in Kankakee on June 27, 2011 at the age of 77. Governor and Mrs. Ryan were the proud and loving parents of five daughters, including a set of triplets - and he often joked that he went to bed with 2 daughters one night and woke up with 5! Nancy (John Coghlan), Lynda (Mike Fairman), Triplets; Julie (Jeff Koehl), Joanne, and Jeanette (Jim Schneider); and one son, George Homer, Jr. (Amy). They proudly boasted of their 17 grandchildren and 21 great-grandchildren, as well as numerous nieces and nephews.
Late in life, George had a very special relationship with Kitty Kelly, her daughter Colleen, son John, and their children. The Ryan Children were so thankful that Kitty provided Dad with wonderful companionship until her passing.
Ryan co-authored a Book - "Until I Could Be Sure" published by Rowman and Littlefield (available on Amazon) with award-winning journalist Maurice Posely about his experience with the death penalty in Illinois, and how he finally came to the conclusion of his historic moratorium.
He recently had the great honor and long-time dream of attending the Masters Golf Tournament with his son George, Jr., in Augusta, Georgia, where the great Gary Player greeted him with kind words and a warm handshake.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the wishes of the family or to the following charities: Duane Dean Behavioral Health Center; The George & Lura Lynn Ryan Scholarship Fund at Kankakee Community College; VIP Service Dog Foundation.
Visitation will be held from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, May 6, 2025 at Schreffler Funeral Home, Kankakee. A memorial service will be held at Noon on Thursday, May 8, 2025 at Asbury United Methodist Church, Kankakee.
Kankakee, IL - George H. Ryan, Sr., 39th governor of Illinois - who energized a world-wide effort to abolish the death penalty, saved countless lives by strengthening anti-drunk driving laws and organ donation programs; and led ground-breaking efforts to normalize relations with Cuba - has died peacefully at his home in Kankakee surrounded by hi
Published on May 7, 2025
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