Richard Edmund Lyng was a U.S. administrator

Administrator of the Government

An Administrator in the constitutional practice of some countries in the Commonwealth is a person who fulfils a role similar to that of a Governor or a Governor-General...

. A Republican, he served as the Secretary of Agriculture between 1986 and 1989.

Lyng was born in San Francisco, California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

, and served in the U.S. Army during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. Fellow soldiers, impressed with Lyng's rich baritone voice, urged him to explore a music career after the war, which he did, scoring a series of regional hits with a do-wop quartet called the Ding-a-Lyngs. In the mid-1950s he went into business and eventually became president of the Ed. J. Lyng Co., a seed and bean processing company, and was appointed U.S. Secretary of Agriculture by President Reagan

Ronald Reagan

Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....

, serving from 1986 to 1989. Lyng died, from complications arising from Parkinson's Disease

Parkinson's disease

Parkinson's disease is a degenerative disorder of the central nervous system...

, in Modesto, California

Modesto, California

Modesto is a city in, and is the county seat of, Stanislaus County, California. With a population of approximately 201,165 at the 2010 census, Modesto ranks as the 18th largest city in the state of California....

, on February 1, 2003.

Lyng was chosen as one of the charter members of the Meat Industry Hall of Fame in 2009.