Gov. Ryan funeral services set

KANKAKEE – Funeral arrangements for the late Gov. George Ryan have been set, and the services will be held this week in his hometown of Kankakee.

The visitation service will be held from 4-7 p.m. Tuesday at the Schreffler Funeral Home, Kankakee Chapel, 1900 W. Court St., Kankakee.

A memorial service will be held Thursday, beginning at noon, at the Asbury United Methodist Church, 196 S. Harrison Ave., Kankakee.

Ryan died Friday in his Kankakee Riverview home at the age of 91, surrounded by family.

The former one-term governor and two-term Illinois Secretary of State, Ryan spent about 35 years being involved in Kankakee County and Illinois politics.

Ryan, a Kankakee High School graduate, entered the national stage late in his political career when he took aim at what he described as the “deeply flawed” capital punishment system.

He had grave concerns regarding those who had been placed on death row, as many were being freed from death row based on post-trial evidence which proved they were innocent.

He was the nation’s first U.S. governor to issue a blanket moratorium on further executions in 2000, staying the death sentences of 163 men and women on death row.

Ryan, of course, was confronted by legal matters of his own and was convicted in federal course on a series of corruption charges and was sentenced in September 2006 to federal prison.

He was released in January 2013.