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Public memorial planned for former Governor Dick Thornburgh

October 15, 2022 / 8:38 AM EDT / CBS Pittsburgh

Memorial planned for former Gov. Dick Thornburgh

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - A public memorial service will happen this weekend for the late former Governor Dick Thornburg.h

He died in late 2020 but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, his family was unable to hold a public memorial.

Thornburgh was remembered for his cool handling of the 1979 Three Mile Island crisis and as U.S. attorney general restored credibility to a Justice Department hurt by the Iran-Contra scandal.

He was 88 years old.

Thornburgh built his reputation as a crime-busting federal prosecutor in Pittsburgh and as a moderate Republican governor. As the nation's top law enforcement official, he prosecuted the savings and loan scandal. He also shepherded the Americans with Disabilities Act; one of his sons had been severely brain-damaged in an auto accident.

The service will be on Sunday afternoon at Shadyside Presbyterian Church and a reception will follow.

Patrick Damp

Patrick Damp is a web producer for CBS Pittsburgh. A Pittsburgh native who grew up watching KDKA-TV, Patrick studied journalism at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. After half a decade in sports communication, Patrick decided to pursue his dream of working in journalism in his hometown and joined the CBS Pittsburgh team in 2019.