There may not have been a larger personality in Kankakee County than George Ryan.

The pharmacist turned Kankakee County Board chairman and then state political leader, Ryan died this year, but he was certainly not the only notable loss the region experienced in 2025.

While there were numerous passings, here at five of five who graced the community and worked to make this a better place to live, work and enjoy.

George Ryan, 91

Although not originally from Kankakee, there was never a doubt that this river city was home for George Ryan, his wife, Lura Lynn, and their family of six.

Ryan carved out a career that he, nor anyone else, could have likely imagined.

Ryan died May 2 in his Kankakee Riverview home.

Kankakee became the home base for the man who rose politically from the Kankakee County Board to the Illinois General Assembly to Illinois lieutenant governor and Secretary of State before becoming governor.

The Republican served one term as the state’s chief executive officer, from 1999-2003.

Along this long journey, Ryan took bold steps and those steps put him in the spotlight of local, state, national and even international news.

In October 1999, Ryan became the first U.S. governor to visit Cuba since the 1959 revolution and the U.S. trade embargo initiated in 1960.

The five-day “humanitarian mission” aimed to build bridges between Illinois and Cuba with Ryan bringing some $1 million of medical and relief supplies.

During the trip, Ryan met with Cuban leader Fidel Castro. Ryan returned to Cuba in 2018, with the aim to rekindle relationships and continued advocacy for lifting the U.S. embargo.

He also worked to halt the state’s death penalty.

Initially a supporter of capital punishment, Ryan changed course and became a chief supporter of the anti-death penalty movement when he instituted a 2000 moratorium on the system and eventually emptied the state’s death row in 2003.

Ryan learned of what he described as a “shameless record of convicting innocent people and putting them on death row.

Just days prior to ending his term as governor, Ryan commuted the sentences of 167 death row inmates to life in prison and pardoned four others who had been tortured into confessions.

As a result of his action against the death penalty, Ryan was nominated for the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize.

His political tenure ended on a very disappointing level.

Following a lengthy investigation into the licenses-for-bribes conspiracy dating back to his tenure as Secretary of State, Ryan was convicted on charges in 2006 and sentenced to federal prison before being released in 2013.

Jack Klasey, 86

If there were ever questions regarding Kankakee County history, there was always one resource for the answer.

Klasey was the holder of all things historical regarding Kankakee and Kankakee County.

Klasey, of Aroma Park, died Nov. 25 after a short illness.

A former reporter with The Daily Journal in the 1960s, before departing to work in book publishing, freelance writing and author.

He wrote the popular column, “Looking Back,” on Kankakee County history for The Journal for eight years, ending in late 2024. At that point, he wrote a history column for the historical society.

“To have known Jack was to love Jack, a man whose charm and unending love for our community was such a blessing,” said Bill Jurevich, a former longtime Daily Journal photographer and appreciator of history.

John McCracken, 95

It was a John McCracken creation.

One of Kankakee County’s go-to Realtors, McCracken created the slogan from his real estate firm, McCracken Realty.

“Start Packin’. Call McCracken.”

McCracken died Jan. 4.

The owner-operator of McCracken Realty from 1963 to 2001, he often worked seven days a week. The former director and president of the Kankakee County Board of Realtor, McCracken was once honored as the group’s Realtor of the Year as well as its Broker of the Year.

He retired in 2001, and McCracken’s company merged with Rosenboom Real Estate.

McCracken was Kankakee to the bone. He loved all things Kankakee, including the beautiful Kankakee River. He was an avid skier and was credited with constructing the first water ski jump on the river.

“He was absolutely one of the stalwarts of this community,” said close friend Ed Lambert, the longtime Kankakee Eastridge teacher and swimming coach. “... He was full of energy, full of life. He was a sweet, kind, gentle man.”

Ken Zyer, 66

While his face may not have been recognizable to the listening audience of much of the Kankakee and Iroquois counties region, his voice was never mistaken.

WVLI radio newsman and personality Ken Zyer died March 15 in the Tampa, Florida, area where he had been living for several years.

Zyer started his local radio career in 1979 when he served as a DJ at WBYG, better known as “The Bus.” He became the station’s news director in 1988.

He transitioned to the upstart WVLI in 1995 where he tag-teamed with longtime area radio personality Jim Brandt.

The pair worked side by side for many years.

“He could take your lead and entertain without taking over,” Brandt recalled of his radio partner of 24 years. “I don’t think I would have been successful without him. We were a 50-50 team.”

Said Tim Milner, executive chairman of Milner Media: “The public trusted him. If the public heard it from Ken, they knew it was true.”

Art Strother, 72

While many people could think of numerous places they would rather be than the site where millions of gallons of wastewater are treated daily, for Art Strother it was home.

Strother spent the bulk of his life working and then directing operations at the plant along the banks of the Kankakee River.

Strother died March 17 following an extended illness.

He worked at the Kankakee River Metropolitan Agency treatment plant almost to his death, having been on duty as recently as March 11.

He served as KRMA superintendent from 2016 until his death. He had worked at the site for 40 years.

“Without question, he was more than excited and pleased to work at the treatment plant until the end,” said his son, Marcus.

Even at the age of 72, Strother was not ready to retire. He had planned on working to the age of 74.

In an interview with The Journal in November 2024, Strother simply said he never considered his employment as being work.

“I like what I do. It’s very rewarding work, and it benefits the community. If I new back then what I know now, I would have applied here right after high school.”