George W. Lindberg, a lifelong resident of Crystal Lake, passed away peacefully Tuesday, March 19, 2019, at the age of 86. He was born June 21, 1932 in Crystal Lake, the son of the late Dr. A.V. Lindberg and Rilla (nee Wakem) Lindberg. He was the loving husband of Linda Merlo, whom he married June 20, 1964; the beloved father of Karen Ventura and Kirsten Tibbetts (David); and cherished grandfather of Julia, Drusilla and Tabitha.
Appointed to the U.S. District Court by President George H. W. Bush, Judge Lindberg served 23 years on the federal bench in the Northern District of Illinois before retiring in 2012. He previously served 11 years as a justice of the Illinois Appellate Court, Second District. In 1972 he was elected Illinois’ first State Comptroller.
Thereafter, he served for two years as Illinois Deputy Attorney General. In 1966, he was elected to the first of three terms in the Illinois House of Representatives where he chaired the Judiciary Committee on criminal law. He also chaired the Illinois House Committee to Investigate the Judiciary.
During the Committee’s investigation, two justices of the Illinois Supreme Court resigned. He was chief sponsor of the Illinois Government Ethics Act which requires annual disclosure of economic interests by Illinois public officials and candidates for office. Authorization for the Act was one of four reforms he recommended to a joint committee of the Illinois Constitutional Convention in 1969.
Those reforms became part of the Illinois Constitution of 1970. Judge Lindberg graduated from Northwestern University in 1954 and its law school in 1957. While in law school, he trained under John E. Reid and Northwestern Professor of Law, Fred E. Inbau, the leading authorities on criminal interrogation polygraph technique.
Upon graduation, he served as Vice President and legal counsel for John E. Reid & Associates, conducting several thousand polygraph examinations before resigning in 1968 to practice law and to continue his legislative and public service career. Visitation will be held Saturday, April 13 from 9 a.m. until the time of the memorial service at 11 a.m. at Davenport Family Funeral Home and Crematory, 419 E Terra Cotta Ave (Rt. 176) Crystal Lake.
In lieu of flowers, donations are appreciated to JourneyCare Hospice Foundation, 2050 Claire Court, Glenview, IL 60025 (www. journeycare.org) or to the Ronald McDonald House, 1301 W 22nd St, Suite 905, Oak Brook, IL 60523. Donations may be made to: JourneyCare Foundation 2050 Claire Ct.
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