Thomas G. Lyons (May 24, 1931 – January 12, 2007) was an American politician and member of the Democratic Party active in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Biography

Lyons was born May 24, 1931, on the northwest side of Chicago. He attended Our Lady of Victory Grammar School and

Campion High School Campion Jesuit High School was a Jesuit boarding school for boys in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, named for the Jesuit martyr Edmund Campion. The school operated from its founding in 1880 until closing in 1975, and educated several notable figu ...

. He attended college at

Loyola University Loyola University is one of several Jesuit Universities named for St. Ignatius of Loyola. Loyola University may refer to: Democratic Republic of the Congo *Loyola University of Congo, Kinshasa, Congo Spain * Loyola University Andalusia, Sevilla ...

and earned a law degree from

Loyola Law School Loyola Law School is the law school of Loyola Marymount University, a private Jesuit university in Los Angeles, California. Loyola was established in 1920. Academics Degrees offered include the Juris Doctor (JD); Master of Science in Legal ...

. Lyons served in the

United States Army Rangers The United States Army Rangers are U.S. Army personnel who have served in any unit which has held the official designation of "Ranger". The term is commonly used to include graduates of the Ranger School, even if they have never served in a ...

1954 through 1956. As of 1964, he was a

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

in the

United States Army Reserve The United States Army Reserve (USAR) is a Military reserve force, reserve force of the United States Army. Together, the Army Reserve and the Army National Guard constitute the Army element of the reserve components of the United States Armed ...

. Lyons joined the

Chicago Police Department The Chicago Police Department (CPD) is the primary law enforcement agency of the city of Chicago, Illinois, United States, under the jurisdiction of the Chicago City Council. It is the second-largest Law enforcement in the United States#Local, ...

as a patrolman in 1953 and resigned in 1957 upon his admission to the Bar. During his legal career, he served as Chief of the Law Division of Cook County Assessor's Office, and chief of three departments in the Office of Attorney General of Illinois, and as a partner at O'Keefe, Ashenden, O'Brien, Hanson, Lyons & Associates. In 1958, Lyons married Ruth Tobin in

Mitchell, South Dakota Mitchell is a city in and the county seat of Davison County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 15,660 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census making it the List of cities in South Dakota, sixth most populous city in South Dako ...

Illinois Senate

In 1964, Lyons was elected to the

Illinois Senate The Illinois Senate is the upper chamber of the Illinois General Assembly, the legislative branch of the government of the State of Illinois in the United States. The body was created by the first state constitution adopted in 1818. Under the ...

from the 10th district defeating Republican candidate Elroy C. Sandquist Jr. He was chosen the best new member of the Illinois Senate in 1965 and selected by

Rutgers University Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's C ...

as an outstanding young legislator in 1966. Served as chairman of the Illinois Constitution Study Commission and Secretary of the Governor's Revenue Study Committee. Lyons lost re-election in 1966, in part for his support for a statewide fair housing laws, similar to what would become Titles VIII through IX of the Civil Rights Act of 1968. Lyons was elected as a delegate to the Sixth Illinois Constitutional Convention of 1969-1970, and was unanimously elected to be a Vice President of the Convention. Lyons was elected to the

in 1970 from the 15th district and served another term in the Illinois Senate. Lyons left the Illinois Senate to run for

Illinois Attorney General The Illinois attorney general is the highest legal officer of the state of Illinois in the United States. Originally an appointed office, it is now an office filled by statewide election. Based in Chicago and Springfield, the attorney general ...

; losing to incumbent William J. Scott. Howard W. Carroll, a member of the

Illinois House of Representatives The Illinois House of Representatives is the lower house of the Illinois General Assembly. The body was created by the first Illinois Constitution adopted in 1818. The House under the constitution as amended in 1980 consists of 118 representativ ...

, defeated former State Senator Walter Duda's comeback bid.

Post-Senate career

In 1968, Lyons was elected to the position of Democratic

committeeman In the United States, a political party committee is an organization, officially affiliated with a political party and registered with the Federal Election Commission (FEC), which raises and spends money for political campaigning. Political party c ...

for the 45th ward, and from 1990 until his death he served as Chair of the

Cook County Democratic Party The Cook County Democratic Party is an American county-level political party organization which represents voters in 50 wards in the city of Chicago and 30 suburban townships of Cook County. The organization has dominated Chicago politics (and ...

from 1990 to 2007 and as 45th Ward Democratic committeeman for many years. President

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...

appointed Lyons to the

American Battle Monuments Commission The American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) is an Independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the United States government that administers, operates, and maintains permanent U.S. military cemeteries, memoria ...

. He died in January 2007. He was succeeded as Chairman of the Cook County Democratic Party by Joe Berrios.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lyons, Thomas G. 1931 births 2007 deaths Chicago Police Department officers Democratic Party Illinois state senators Loyola University Chicago alumni Loyola University Chicago School of Law alumni Politicians from Chicago United States Army reservists United States Army Rangers United States Army officers Military personnel from Illinois Members of Illinois constitutional conventions 20th-century members of the Illinois General Assembly Cook County Democratic Party chairs