Tyrone C. Fahner

Tyrone Clarence Fahner ( ; November 18, 1942 – September 16, 2024) was an American lawyer and politician. A member of the Republican Party, he served as Illinois Attorney General from 1980 until 1983. He was appointed to the position by Governor James R. Thompson after the incumbent, William Scott, had been convicted of a tax crime, which disqualified him from office.

Early life and education Tyrone Clarence Fahner was born on November 18, 1942, in Detroit, Michigan, to Warren Fahner, a Chrysler employee, and Alma (Newman) Fahner, who worked at Michigan Bell as a telephone operator.

Fahner graduated from Denby High School in 1961 and became a student at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, where he was a member of the Delta Tau Delta fraternity. Fahner served on the firm's management committee from 1985 to 2007, and was its co-chairman from 1998 to 2001 and its chairman from 2001 to 2007.

In 2015, Fahner wrote a letter to U.S. District Judge Thomas M. Durkin urging a lenient sentence for former House Speaker Dennis Hastert, who had pleaded guilty to unlawfully structuring bank withdrawals to avoid reporting requirements. (Hastert had made secret payments to a man whom he had sexually abused decades earlier, when Hastert was a high school teacher and coach.) Fahner referred to Hastert as "a kind, strong, principled, and unselfish man" and wrote: "I urge the court to permit him to live the rest of his life in freedom with his family and friends, and all those who love and admire him."

In the 2016 Republican Party presidential primaries, Fahner was a delegate pledged to the presidential campaign of Jeb Bush.

Memberships and board service In 1988, Ronald Reagan appointed Fahner to the Board of Foreign Scholarships, for a term ending in 1991.

Personal life and death Fahner was married to Anne Fahner. The family lived in Evanston for many years before moving to Northfield in 2014.