September 9, 2003

Prayers offered for Indiana Governor after massive stroke

By Daniel R. Gangler

INDIANAPOLIS - Indiana Governor Frank L. O'Bannon remains in critical condition at a Chicago hospital following life-saving surgery after apparently suffering a massive stroke in a downtown Chicago hotel on Monday morning.

Indiana Area Bishop Woodie W. White asks United Methodist to pray for Governor and Mrs. O'Bannon and their family. In a prepared statement issued to Hoosier United Methodists, the bishop said: "As Bishop of the Indiana Area of The United Methodist Church, I offer my sincere prayers for our governor, Frank O'Bannon, Mrs. O'Bannon and their family. I call upon the more than 1,300 United Methodist congregations in Indiana to join in a time of prayer for our governor and his family. Governor and Mrs. O'Bannon are lifelong members of The United Methodist Church and have been loyal and supportive in so many ways. Our hearts are aching for our state and for our First Family.

O'Bannon, 73, and his wife, Judy O'Bannon, are members of The United Methodist Church in their hometown of Corydon, Ind., just west of Louisville, Ky. In Indianapolis, the O'Bannons attend Central Avenue United Methodist Church.

The Rev. Esther Wilson, pastor of the Corydon church, is in Chicago with the family at Northwestern Memorial Hospital where the governor was taken unconscious after paramedics rescued him in his room at the Palmer House Hilton. There he was scheduled to make opening remarks at the Midwest U.S.-Japan Association Conference on Monday morning, according to Mary Dieter, spokesperson for the governor.

While doctors described the three hours of surgery they performed on O'Bannon, Joeseph E. Kernan, the lieutenant governor, assumed the role of acting governor, as he does when the governor is out of the state.

Kernan said state legislative leaders were considering whether to make the transfer of power formal under a complicated process required by the state Constitution, and called on the people of Indiana to pray for O'Bannon's recovery.

Over the years, O'Bannon had been deemed in excellent health. His doctor gave him a full physical exam three months ago, Dieter said.

O'Bannon has spent his life in Indiana politics serving in the Indiana State Senate and as lieutenant governor before becoming governor. He is in his second term of office. His term ends next year and state law prevents him from serving a third term as governor.

In April, O'Bannon joined Bishop White and State Senator Patricia Miller, another United Methodist, on the steps of the state capitol during the Bishop's March for Children, part of the Bishop's Initiative on Children and Poverty. At that rally, O'Bannon reminded marchers about the state's Hoosier health care insurance provided to more that 250,000 low-income children and youth across the state. He said continued support of children's programs became difficult for the state this year as revenue declined.

"I think one child living in poverty is one too many," O'Bannon said with children all around him on the statehouse steps.

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