SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Former Illinois Supreme Court Justice Thomas Fitzgerald has died. He was 74.

The Illinois Supreme Court and Hallowell and James Funeral Home in Countryside said Tuesday that Fitzgerald died Sunday at his home. Fitzgerald said in 2010 when he retired that he had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.

Fitzgerald was elected to the high court in 2000. He was chief justice from 2008 until he stepped down in 2010. He was the first chief justice to preside over the impeachment of a governor when he opened proceedings against Rod Blagojevich in 2009.

Chief Justice Rita Garman says Fitzgerald was warm and caring. She says while on the bench, “his demeanor revealed his genuine concern about the people who appeared before him.”

Fitzgerald was a prosecutor before becoming the youngest elected Cook County circuit judge in 1976.

 

 

 

Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.