Longtime Illinois Auditor General Bill Holland dead at 72

William G. "Bill" Holland , who served as Illinois Auditor General for 23 years in a public service career that spanned four decades, died at his home in Seattle on Saturday.

He was 72.

According to an obituary supplied by the family, Holland had been diagnosed with colon cancer.

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A native of Joliet but raised in Kansas, Holland served as chief of staff to then-Senate President Phil Rock, D-Chicago, before his appointment as auditor general by the Illinois General Assembly in 1992.

The office, created as part of the 1970 Illinois Constitution , analyzes state agencies to ensure money is spent appropriately.

Holland's tenure overlapped five different governors, both Democrat and Republican.

According to a 2015 State Journal-Register story , Holland’s 2005 audit of the Department of Central Management Services brought into question suspicious activities of former Gov. Rod Blagojevich. He was impeached in 2009.

Gov. Jim Edgar told the SJ-R in 2015 that Holland never let partisan politics play into his role.

"He came at Republicans and Democrats with equal gusto," Edgar said.

Before joining Rock's staff, Holland served as director of the Illinois House Majority Appropriations Committee Staff and as first director of the Illinois General Assembly’s Washington, D.C., office.

He is survived by three children and seven grandchildren.

A memorial will be held in Springfield this coming fall.

Contact Steven Spearie: 217-622-1788; sspearie@sj-r.com; X, twitter.com/@StevenSpearie .

This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Longtime Illinois Auditor General Bill Holland dead at 72