Long time NAFUSA member Richard (Dick) Thornburgh passed away on Thursday morning, December 31, 2020. He was 88. President Ronald Reagan appointed Thornburgh to be the Attorney General of the United States in August 1988, and he was asked to stay on by President George H.W. Bush. He served as AG until 1991. Thornburgh also served as the United States Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania (1969-1975); Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division (1975-1977); Governor of Pennsylvania (1979-1987); and Under-Secretary on the United Nations (1992-1993)

Click here to view the news advisory from K&L Gates, where Dick began his private practice as an associate in 1959 and returned after his time in public service, until his retirement from the firm in early 2019. He is survived by his wife, Ginny, four sons, six grandchildren, and five great grandchildren. As is our custom, NAFUSA will request that an American flag be flown over Main Justice in Dick’s honor, and presented to his family as a token of the regard with which he was held by his colleagues.

One of NAFUSA’s founding members Victor Ortega writes:

Like everyone else I was saddened to learn of the passing of Dick Thornburgh.  As I explained at the San Francisco meeting, NAFUSA really had its origins in the first Attorney General’s Advisory Committee of United States Attorneys which was appointed by Attorney General Elliott Richardson.  Many of the founders of NAFUSA were members of that original Advisory Committee.  Dick Thornburgh was one of the original appointees to the Advisory Committee.  With his passing I believe there are only three of the original Advisory Committee members left, Ralph Guy, now a Senior Judge on the 6^th Circuit, Bob Fiske and me. Ralph Guy was one of the founders of NAFUSA as well.  Dick Thornburgh was a contemporary, a friend and an outstanding public servant and we will miss him.

Another NAFUSA member, Chuck Rosenberg, shared this memory The first phone call.