Hon. Frank J. McGarr 1921-2012

Judge Frank J. McGarr, the son of a Chicago plumber, sat on the federal bench for 18 years and presided over a number of significant cases that included Oakland A's owner Charles O. Finley's lawsuit against then-baseball commissioner Bowie Kuhn.

Judge McGarr also was chairman of then-Gov. George Ryan's Commission on Capital Punishment in the early 2000s, which paved the way for the state's 2011 abolition of the death penalty.

"Frank was the perfect guy to chair this group, to lead the discourse on a topic that was and remains such a lightning rod issue," said U.S. District Court Judge Charles P. Kocoras. "Looking back on what took place back then, I can't imagine a better person to bring about a consensus from people with such discordant views."

The commission's report concluded that the system was deeply flawed and offered scores of proposals, a dozen of which Judge McGarr said at the time were essential to "meaningful reform," including the videotaping of interrogations.

Judge McGarr, 90, the chief judge for the U.S. District Court's Northern Illinois District from 1981 to 1986, died Friday, Jan. 6, at his Downers Grove home, after a long struggle with Parkinson's disease.

"As a judge, he never took himself too seriously," said his daughter Patricia DiMaria. "He would say, 'You don't have honor and intelligence, just by putting on a robe.' "

"I feel fortunate to have tried cases before him and to have served alongside him," said James F. Holderman, the current chief judge for the U.S. District Court's Northern Illinois District. "He was an outstanding jurist as well as a wonderful man."

Read the full obituary in the Chicago Tribune