Longtime lawmaker remembered as 'effective advocate' in Springfield
Editor's note: An earlier version of this story included incorrect dates for services.
Veteran state lawmaker Tom Johnson, a West Chicago Republican who had a reputation in Springfield as a moderate voice for his party and as an advocate for criminal justice reform, has died.
Mourners are remembering Johnson and his legislative record in both chambers of the General Assembly. Johnson, an Army veteran who served in Vietnam, died Monday after a four-month battle with cancer. He was 73.
A former DuPage County prosecutor, Johnson was first elected to the Illinois House in 1992, winning a seat in a heavily Republican district that stretched from western DuPage to St. Charles. After a decade in office, Johnson chose not to seek a sixth term in a newly drawn House district and at one point considered running for secretary of state.
"I loved Tom Johnson," DuPage County Board Chairman Dan Cronin said in a statement. "He was smart and he was passionately devoted to public service. He was a gentleman. He was a very effective advocate for fiscal conservatism, for families, for prisoners and prison reform. He was thoughtful and he was measured. He had wisdom and was a great listener. I will miss him."
In 2010, Johnson was appointed to an Illinois Senate seat by a committee comprised of Cronin, then the DuPage Republican chairman, and GOP chairmen from Kane and Will counties. U.S. Rep. Randy Hultgren was resigning from the state Senate seat because of his ascension to Congress representing the 14th Congressional District.
Johnson noted his bipartisan appeal at the time of his appointment to the 48th District seat.
"I have a number of good friends on both sides of the aisle in the Senate and House that I have worked with for many years," he told the Daily Herald.
During his tenure in the House, Johnson chaired a criminal law committee and co-chaired the Illinois Prison Reform Committee, pushing for a truth-in-sentencing law signed by then Gov. Jim Edgar; a child-sex offender registration law; and tighter measures against drunken driving. He was named the 1996 public official of the year by the Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police.
He also served on the Illinois Prisoner Review Board for 14 years.
"How can we more effectively run the prisons to cut into the high recidivism rate? That ought to be the criterion of a successful prison system, as opposed to making sure the prisons don't riot, which seems to have been the standard for years," Johnson said in 1997.
Outside of public office, Johnson, who held a law degree from DePaul University, co-founded a private practice, Johnson & Westra, in Wheaton.
Johnson was a longtime member of Wheaton Bible Church with his wife, Ginger. Married for more than 50 years, the couple raised three sons and welcomed refugees from Ukraine and Iraq into their home, "often for years at a time," according to his obituary.
Visitation is set for 11 a.m. until 4 p.m. Friday, Dec. 28, at the Wheaton Bible Church, 27W500 North Ave., in West Chicago. A memorial service will be held at the church at 1 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 29. Burial will be private.
Instead of flowers, memorial gifts in Johnson's name can be made to World Relief DuPage in Carol Stream, a refugee resettlement organization, or to Wheaton Bible Church's Puente del Pueblo program.