(WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- Former Illinois Gov. James R. Thompson, a Republican who held the state's highest elected office for a record-setting four consecutive terms, has died at the age of 84, according to published reports this morning.
"It was very sudden," his wife, Jayne Thompson, told the Chicago Tribune. "I was told that his heart simply stopped"
Thompson reportedly had been at the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab in downtown Chicago for heart trouble. He passed away Friday evening.
The deal-making, moderate Republican, known as "Big Jim" for his towering 6-foot-6-inch height, was first elected in 1976 and left office in 1991. Thompson first made a name for himself as a hard-nose federal prosecutor in his hometown of Chicago, winning a corruption conviction against former Gov. Otto Kerner, a Democrat.
As governor, Thompson was known for helping seal a publicly assisted deal to build a South Side baseball stadium that kept the Chicago White Sox from leaving Illinois.
After leaving office, Thompson remained an influential lawyer. The Helmut Jahn-designed State of Illinois Center at Randolph and Clark in the Loop was eventually renamed for the ex-governor, and it bears the title James R. Thompson Center.