Barbara Flynn Currie, an American politician and member of the Illinois House of Representatives from 1979 to 2019, died on April 16, 2026, at the age of 85.
A Democrat, she served as Majority Leader from 1997 to 2019. Currie’s 40 years in the Illinois General Assembly was the longest tenure of any woman to serve in the body.
Born in La Crosse, Wisconsin, on May 3, 1940, she grew up in Chicago’s Hyde Park neighborhood. She graduated from the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools, later earned a bachelor’s degree in 1968 and a master’s degree in political science in 1973 from the University of Chicago.
Barbara Flynn Currie, 85, American politician, member of the Illinois House of Representatives (1979–2019).