BROWNTOWN - Former Green County District Attorney Gary Luhman died Tuesday at the age of 60. He had cancer.
Luhman, rural Browntown, served 11 terms and more than 25 years in the position. He was first elected in 1991.
He served as assistant district attorney in Green County from 1983 to 1988, then moved to the same position in Lafayette County before returning to Green County.
His accomplishments as district attorney over the years included starting several programs to combat domestic violence, child abuse and sexual assault, according to a Monroe Times profile last year of former Assistant District Attorney Jeffrey Kohl, who worked alongside Luhman for several decades.
Luhman left the office in October 2016 to begin working in Madison as an assistant attorney general for the Wisconsin Department of Justice under a Sexual Assault Kit Initiative federal grant. The initiative addresses the state's backlog of unsubmitted sexual assault kits.
At the time, he called the job "the perfect position" for him.
"Myself and Jeffrey Kohl, we have a long history of trying sexual assault cases. We've addressed a number of novel and cutting-edge issues," he told the Times in September 2016.
Earlier in 2016, he told the New Glarus Post-Messenger Recorder he was grateful for his family - his wife, Beth, and four adult sons, Christopher, Ethan, Jordan and Bryant, and their families - for the sacrifices they made over the years while he was district attorney.
"Spouses and family members of law enforcement administrators are greatly impacted by the sacrifices, uncertainty and time commitments that a '24-7'-type position, such as district attorney, imposes. I really appreciate my family's patience and understanding over the years," he told the paper.
Jeff Ditzenberger, a lifelong family friend and fellow 4H leader, wrote in a memorial on Luhman's Facebook page Tuesday that Luhman's "impact will be remembered for a long, long time."
"There are those people who impact your life in more ways than one and leave a huge amount of sadness when they are gone. I'll miss our banter and your words of wisdom and thank you for everything you did," he wrote.
Funeral services for Luhman will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday.
Luhman, rural Browntown, served 11 terms and more than 25 years in the position. He was first elected in 1991.
He served as assistant district attorney in Green County from 1983 to 1988, then moved to the same position in Lafayette County before returning to Green County.
His accomplishments as district attorney over the years included starting several programs to combat domestic violence, child abuse and sexual assault, according to a Monroe Times profile last year of former Assistant District Attorney Jeffrey Kohl, who worked alongside Luhman for several decades.
Luhman left the office in October 2016 to begin working in Madison as an assistant attorney general for the Wisconsin Department of Justice under a Sexual Assault Kit Initiative federal grant. The initiative addresses the state's backlog of unsubmitted sexual assault kits.
At the time, he called the job "the perfect position" for him.
"Myself and Jeffrey Kohl, we have a long history of trying sexual assault cases. We've addressed a number of novel and cutting-edge issues," he told the Times in September 2016.
Earlier in 2016, he told the New Glarus Post-Messenger Recorder he was grateful for his family - his wife, Beth, and four adult sons, Christopher, Ethan, Jordan and Bryant, and their families - for the sacrifices they made over the years while he was district attorney.
"Spouses and family members of law enforcement administrators are greatly impacted by the sacrifices, uncertainty and time commitments that a '24-7'-type position, such as district attorney, imposes. I really appreciate my family's patience and understanding over the years," he told the paper.
Jeff Ditzenberger, a lifelong family friend and fellow 4H leader, wrote in a memorial on Luhman's Facebook page Tuesday that Luhman's "impact will be remembered for a long, long time."
"There are those people who impact your life in more ways than one and leave a huge amount of sadness when they are gone. I'll miss our banter and your words of wisdom and thank you for everything you did," he wrote.
Funeral services for Luhman will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday.