PEORIA, Ill. (AP) — Former Chief Justice James Heiple of the Illinois Supreme Court has died from complications following a brain hemorrhage.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday announced the 87-year-old Heiple died Monday at OSF St. Francis Medical Center in Peoria.
Heiple’s son, Jonathan, said his father recovered from a fall in October but a blood vessel ruptured around the first of the year.
Heiple’s legal career began in 1958 in Pekin after he served in the U.S. Army. The Bradley University graduate was elected to the 10th Circuit Court in 1970, to the Appellate Court in 1980 and to the Supreme Court in 1990. Heiple, who served as chief justice in 1997, retired in 2000.
