By AP
Kankakee, IL – Former Illinois Governor George Ryan was with his ailing wife as she was taken off a respirator and died at a Kankakee hospital Monday evening.
That's according to former Governor Jim Thompson. He tells WBBM-TV that Ryan was released from his prison in Terre Haute, Indiana, to visit his wife. Thompson says the couple spent her final hours together.
Lura Lynn Ryan had been diagnosed with lung cancer and hospitalized for apparent complications from chemotherapy.
Thompson says Ryan had been secretly released on four occasions since January to be with his wife of 55-years.
Court records show Ryan's attorneys petitioned an appellate court Friday to allow Ryan to leave the prison and visit his wife, but the court denied the request. Thompson says the prison warden allowed the visits.
