William A HOSINSKI

28 NOV 1919 - 22 DEC 2002

• BIRTH: 28 NOV 1919, South Bend, IN
• BURIAL: 28 DEC 2002, Highland Cemetery, South Bend, Inr
• EVENT: Cause of Death (Facts Pg): Heart Attack
• DEATH: 22 DEC 2002, Sharon, CT

• MARRIAGE: 11 APR 1944, Winthrop, Suffok, MA

1.  Peter M HOSINSKI
2.  John S HOSINSKI
3.  Paul S HOSINSKI
4.  Ann Marie HOSINSKI
5.  Claire Louise HOSINSKI

INDEX

[N9947] William A. Hosinski, 83, departed this life on Sunday, Dec. 22, while vacationing with family in Sharon, Conn.

Mr. Hosinski was born Nov. 28, 1919, in South Bend, Ind., the son of William J. and Hattie H. Hosinski.

On April 11, 1944, in Winthrop, Mass., he married Martha Louise Mitten, who survives, together with his children, Anne Marie Madden of Portland, Ore., Claire Louise Sanford of Camden, Maine, Paul Scott Hosinski of South Bend, Peter Mitten Hosinski of Stamford, Conn., and John Stephen Hosinski of South Bend. Also surviving are 16 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren, and his sister, Marjorie Hosinski Hamel of Chicago, Ill.

Judge Hosinski graduated from St. Hedwig's High School in South Bend in 1936. He then attended the University of Notre Dame, receiving his bachelor of science in accounting in 1940 and his law degree in 1942. Upon graduation from the law school he immediately entered into active duty in the United State Army Air Corps. On April 11, 1944, in Winthrop, Mass., he married United States Naval Ensign Martha L. Mitten. Following the war they returned to South Bend, and on Jan. 1, 1946, he entered upon the practice of law, which practice he continued until his election as judge of the superior court in 1972. His retirement from the court was effective Jan. 1, 1987.

While in practice, Judge Hosinski served in the office of the city attorney in South Bend in two administrations. He served as president of the St. Joseph County Bar Association in 1964 and 1965. He also served as a member of the House of Delegates of the Indiana State Bar Association, was a charter member of the Indiana Lawyers' Commission, and served as chairman of the St. Joseph County Bar Association Committee on Re-Organization of the Courts in 1970-1971.

Services will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 28, in St. Stanislaus Bishop and Martyr Catholic Church in South Bend. Burial will follow at Highland Cemetery.

Friends may call from 2 to 8 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 27, in the Kaniewski Funeral Home, 3545 North Bendix Drive, where a parish Rosary will be recited at 5:30 p.m.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Christ Child Society.

SOUTH BEND TRIB 12-27-2002

Retired St. Joseph Superior Court Judge William A. Hosinski will be remembered as an honest and ethical jurist who was considered "firm but fair" by those who appeared before him.

After 27 years of practicing law, he was elected a Superior Court judge in 1972 and served 14 years until retiring.

"He was organized and orderly and efficient as a judge," said South Bend attorney George Herendeen, a longtime friend and colleague. "He had particularly good common sense and was respected. He did a good job in his tenure."

Herendeen, a former South Bend City Court judge, said Hosinski would sit pro tem for him during his term from 1968-1972, before Hosinski was elected to the bench.

"He was one of the guys who put a robe on and did not change. He respected his position and did not let it go to his head," added Herendeen.

As a member of the transition committee for Prosecutor-elect Michael Dvorak, Herendeen, the committee's chairman, said Hosinski was at Herendeen's office several times in recent weeks.

Hosinski joked about being the oldest one there, Herendeen said, "He was proud of the fact he was an octogenarian and still healthy and active."

Prosecutor-elect Michael Dvorak recalled his last meeting with the judge and others on his transition committee to discuss personnel recommendations they made for his new staff.

"I considered him a father figure in practicing law," Dvorak said.

As the meeting broke up, "he came up, tall and imposing, shook my hand and said to me, 'Be yourself,' " said Dvorak. "He was great. I take (his death) hard. It's a personal loss. He was a good friend, and on the bench, very well-respected."

St. Joseph Superior Court Judge Michael Scopelitis said Hosinski was the same on and off the bench. "He was as well-disciplined, honest, noble and caring in his public life as in his private life."

Hosinski, who administered the oath of office to Scopelitis when he became judge in 2000, was a strong influence on him and other lawyers who began practicing in the early 1970s.

"He possessed qualities that I admire in a judge and that I want to emulate, such as honesty, integrity and complete objectivity," Scopelitis said. "He did not let his personal feelings interfere with his rulings and ruled how he believed the law required based on the facts of the case."

Indiana Court of Appeals Judge Michael P. Barnes said, "He was a great guy and even greater jurist. When I was a young lawyer, he was instrumental in showing me how things should be done correctly."

Barnes, who served 20 years as St. Joseph County prosecutor, said a lot of people considered Hosinski a mentor.

At a 1987 dinner in Hosinski's honor when he retired, longtime friend and former Circuit Court Judge John Montgomery said, "I know him as honest and honorable, dedicated to the law and people striving to maintain traditions with future generations of lawyers. ... We're not apt to see the likes of him again."

By the time Judge Hosinski retired Jan. 1, 1987, he had been hanging around the St. Joseph County Courthouse some 50 years.

He left the bench 50 years to the day that his father, William J. "Big Bill" Hosinski, took office as St. Joseph County sheriff in 1937. But the legacy of public service continued as one of the judge's sons, John, served a term as a South Bend city councilman in the 1990s.