Gov. Frank O'Bannon Dead At 73

INDIANAPOLIS -- Indiana Gov. Frank O'Bannon died at 11:33 a.m. Saturday in the neurointensive care unit of Northwestern Memorial Hospital, five days after suffering a stroke. He was 73 and in his seventh year as governor.

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The governor's condition worsened early Saturday morning as swelling of his brain increased, his office said in a press release. Despite measures by physicians to control his intracranial pressure, it continued to increase and subsequently caused his vital signs to go from stable to unstable. The governor's blood pressure and heart rate dropped, the office said.

Based on the governor's living will, first lady Judy O'Bannon and O'Bannon's family decided to use no further means of support and care, and the governor died naturally.

Judy O'Bannon arrived from Chicago at the Indiana State Police hangar in Indianapolis around 3:30 p.m., and she was met by Acting Gov. Joe Kernan and his wife.

Judy O'Bannon hugged members of Frank O'Bannon's security detail and staff, and offered and received words of support, RTV6's Chris Bavender reported.

Lt. Gov. Joe Kernan, who assumed acting-governor powers after O'Bannon's stroke, was sworn in as the state's 48th governor at 6 p.m.

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By late Saturday afternoon, mourners, many in tears, were leaving flowers outside the governor's office as state police stood guard. Flags were lowered to half-staff at the Statehouse and at other locations in downtown Indianapolis.

The hearse carrying O'Bannon's body arrived at Crown Hill Funeral Home in Indianapolis shortly after 11 p.m. Saturday night.

The return of O'Bannon's body was delayed until his corneas could be removed for transplant. O'Bannon had designated himself an organ donor.

An honor guard of Indiana state troopers carried the late governor's flag-draped casket off the plane as Kernan, Judy O'Bannon and other family members watched.

Judy O'Bannon joined in a circle with her family and hugged as the hearse carrying the late governor's body pulled away.

She also shook the hand of newly-sworn in Gov. Joe Kernan and patted him on the back, then hugged O'Bannon's chief of staff, Tim Joyce.

The governor collapsed Monday at a hotel where he was attending a conference. Doctors found bleeding in O'Bannon's brain having to do with a massive stroke. The blood was removed during surgery, and he was put on a ventilator.

Doctors on Thursday said they saw swelling decrease in his brain, and were cautiously optimistic that he would survive.

Funeral services will likely be held later this week, possibly in the Statehouse, said Jonathan Swain, spokesman for Judy O'Bannon.

Plans are also being discussed for services to be held in Corydon.

The Indiana Constitution does not offer provisions for the care of the spouse of a governor who has died. But Republican Senate President Pro Tem Robert Garton said he expects former first lady Judy O'Bannon will be taken care of financially. It was unclear whether she will receive a salary or be given a pension.

"We did discuss if there needs to be an executive order to make clear that there will be a very good transition time for the family," Garton said. "I do want the family taken care of well and appropriately."

Mrs. O'Bannon will be allowed to live in the governor's residence during the transition. Swain said she plans to take care of matters in a responsible period.

She had not been given a deadline to leave, he said.

O'Bannon is the third Indiana governor to die while in office.

The state's first governor to die in office was Ashbel P. Willard, who served from 1857 to 1860. Upon his death, Willard was succeeded by his lieutenant governor, Abraham A. Hammond.

The second Indiana governor to die in office was Alvin P. Hovey, who served from 1889 to 1891. He was succeeded by Ira J. Chase.

O'Bannon Easily Won Re-Election In 2000

O'Bannon's tenure began brightly with the economic boom of the late 1990s. Indiana built a record $2 billion surplus, and O'Bannon cut taxes by $1.5 billion, put 500 more police officers on the streets, and won increasing funding for schools and universities. The moderate Democrat coasted to re-election in 2000 over former U.S. Rep. David McIntosh, R-Ind.

Shortly into his second term, the economic good times soured into a recession. Indiana lost 120,000 jobs, and tax revenues flowing into state coffers slowed to a trickle, forcing tax increases and cuts in social services and other agencies while largely sparing education.

Republicans blamed O'Bannon for only recently focusing on economic development.

In an April 2002 interview, O'Bannon acknowledged the state's worst fiscal crunch in two decades would help shape his legacy.

"It will certainly be a part of it. But I don't even think of my legacy. I just look at things I can get done," O'Bannon said.

His critics also accused O'Bannon of running a loose ship as governor. They pointed to the embezzlement from a public retirement fund, a slow response by his environmental agency to a big fish kill, and problems at two state centers for the developmentally disabled.

Criticism of O'Bannon rarely turned personal, though. That reflected his folksy image -- his home is a reconstructed barn on the outskirts of the family hometown of Corydon -- and the good will he had built during 18 years in the Indiana Senate and eight as lieutenant governor.

Brian Bosma, the Indiana House minority leader, clashed with O'Bannon on policy issues, but knew the governor's positions were deeply held.

"He has always done what he has felt was in the best interest of our state. I would never question his integrity or his service or his dedication," said Bosma, R-Indianapolis.

Sen. Evan Bayh, who was governor when O'Bannon was lieutenant governor, hailed him after he fell ill Monday as "a good man and one of the most decent public servants I've ever had the honor of working with."

O'Bannon won his first term as governor in 1996, narrowly defeating Indianapolis Mayor Stephen Goldsmith, who had advocated bold moves such as school choice and privatization of government services.

Indiana residents traditionally have embraced change only when it honors the past, historian James Madison has written. "When forced to change, they were always able to blend the old with the new."

"I think O'Bannon is a wonderful combination of past, present and future," Madison, a historian at Indiana University, said in 1996.

O'Bannon took positions that many of his Democratic counterparts in other states might deem too conservative. He wanted to place a 7-foot stone monument with the Ten Commandments on the grounds of the state Capitol until the courts said no.

While a legislator, he had been the prime sponsor of the legislation that reimposed Indiana's death penalty in the 1970s. As governor, O'Bannon allowed seven executions to occur without delay but recently granted a 60-day reprieve in one case to allow for DNA testing.

O'Bannon had succeeded his father in the state Senate in 1970 and held the seat until becoming lieutenant governor. He had actually sought the governor's seat in 1987, but after Bayh entered the race, O'Bannon became the much younger man's running mate. The pair won election that year and then won a second term in 1991.

Over eight years as lieutenant governor, O'Bannon quietly built ties with farmers, business people and party leaders in preparation for his own gubernatorial run. He was not opposed when he sought the Democratic nomination for governor in 1996.

"Frank O'Bannon is the ultimate public servant, the kind of public servant we should all strive to be," said Vi Simpson, who served with O'Bannon in the Indiana Senate. "He had many choices in his life -- he was a lawyer, he is a lawyer who owns a family business, and he could have gone down many roads -- and he chose a lifetime of devotion and dedication to the people of this state."

O'Bannon graduated from Corydon High School in 1948 and received a bachelor's degree in government from Indiana University in 1952. He served two years in the Air Force and then earned his law degree from IU in 1957.

That same year he married Judy Asmus, whom he had met on a blind date in college. They returned to Corydon, where he started a law practice and spent time at the family-owned newspaper, the Corydon Democrat. Even as governor, he remained chairman of the O'Bannon Publishing Co., which publishes weekly newspapers in Harrison and Crawford counties.

The O'Bannons have three children, Polly, Jennifer and Jonathon, and five grandchildren.

Memorial Contributions Being Accepted

Memorial contributions can be made to a foundation established in Frank O'Bannon's name to benefit charitable causes:

O'Bannon Foundation
c/o Union Federal Bank
45 N. Pennsylvania St.
Indianapolis, IN 46204

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