Imprisoned Illinois guv's wife dies

CHICAGO - Lura Lynn Ryan, the former Illinois first lady who spent the waning years of her life seeking freedom for imprisoned former Gov. George Ryan, quietly spent her final moments with her husband of 55 years at her side.

She died of cancer Monday evening at Riverside Medical Center in Kankakee, said Kankakee County Coroner Robert Gessner. She was 76.

Ryan had been released from his prison cell in Terre Haute, Ind., to spend several hours with her on Monday, one of four times since January the warden allowed the former governor to see his ailing wife, despite repeatedly denied requests from the courts.

"It was enormously important to him and to her," said Ryan attorney former Gov. Jim Thompson. "They've been together all their lives really."

Lura Lynn Ryan had been diagnosed with lung cancer and hospitalized last week because she was having trouble breathing. She was placed on a respirator last week and taken off it Monday night after it appeared nothing else could be done, Thompson said.

She was a steadfast supporter of the former governor, whom she had met in high school, and maintained that he had never done anything wrong during his lengthy political career.

They met as teenagers and had six children together, including a set of triplets. Friends described the couple as "nearly inseparable."

"If you could approach Lura Lynn, you were approaching George," said Tony Leone, a family friend and former aide to George Ryan. "She was always at his side."

The former governor, serving time on federal corruption charges, was quietly escorted from the Indiana prison four times to be with her about 130 miles away. The first was in January to the intensive care unit at a Kankakee hospital. He was let out when she began chemotherapy and again over the weekend when her health took a turn for the worse. Each visit lasted only a few hours, Thompson said.

Federal Bureau of Prisons spokesman Chris Burke declined to comment.

It was unclear if Lura Lynn recognized her husband in all the final visits, Thompson said. In the first she drifted in and out of sleep and struggled to speak while he was there. The secret visit was not revealed until two days later, when federal prosecutors mentioned it in a court filing arguing against a request by Ryan's lawyers to have him released on bail so he could spend more time with his dying wife.

Ryan was convicted on federal corruption charges in 2006, and has served three years of a 6 1/2-year sentence for racketeering, conspiracy, tax fraud and making false statements to the FBI.

Lura Lynn Lowe grew up in the Kankakee County village of Aroma Park where her family, originally from Germany, had lived since 1834. Her father owned one of the nation's first hybrid seed companies.

She moved to Kankakee for high school. She and the former governor met in a high school English class. Family friends and public officials called her a devoted mother, wife and grandmother who was gracious to everyone she met.

Lura Lynn Ryan had no idea when they got married that her husband would go into politics. He started life as a Kankakee drug-store owner. But he helped a friend who was running for the county board and seemed to have a flair for politics.

The climb was steady, from a seat in the General Assembly to lieutenant governor to secretary of state and finally the governorship - reaching the pinnacle of both state government and Illinois' Republican establishment.

Prosecutors say the road to the top for George Ryan was marred by corruption. But she focused on the positive, including Ryan's unprecedented commuting of all 156 inmates on Illinois' death row before leaving office in 2003, and his efforts to curb drunken driving.

Ryan was convicted in 2006 of steering state contracts and leases to political insiders while he was secretary of state and then governor for one term. He received vacations and gifts in return.

Lura Lynn Ryan grew increasingly frail during her final years, appearing at her husband's court appearances with an oxygen tank.

Friends, who remembered her as strong-willed and a trusted advisor, said yesterday that the family pulled together closer in the past years.

"The rollercoaster life of any politician can kind of break families apart, it did just the opposite," Leone said. "It united that family. They were unbelievable strong."