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Former Supreme Court of Ohio Justice Blanche Krupansky, 82, the second woman to serve on Ohio’s high court, died Monday.
Appointed by then-Gov. James A. Rhodes on Aug. 28, 1981, Justice Krupansky filled the unexpired term of Justice Paul W. Brown who resigned from the Supreme Court earlier in the month. Justice Krupansky served on the Court from Sept. 10, 1981 to Jan. 10, 1983.
“Judge Krupansky made valuable contributions to both the legal profession and the courts,” said Chief Justice Thomas J. Moyer. “As the only woman in her law class, she helped clear a path for the thousands of women who would become attorneys in Ohio. Besides serving as a trailblazer, she was the consummate judge, having served at all levels of the Ohio Judiciary. Her contributions will long be remembered.”
Ms. Krupansky’s experience as a jurist also included service on the Cleveland Municipal Court, the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas and the Eighth District Court of Appeals.
Blanche Ethel Krupansky was born in Cleveland to Frank and Ann Krupansky on Dec. 10, 1925. Following her education in Cleveland’s Public Schools, she graduated from Flora Stone Mather College in Cleveland in 1947 and from Case-Western Reserve University Law School in 1948. Krupansky began private practice in 1949, following her admission to the Ohio Bar. Later, she served as an assistant attorney general during the terms of Ohio Attorney General C. William O’Neil, and was appointed assistant chief counsel to the Ohio Bureau of Workers Compensation.
She began her judicial career by serving on the City of Cleveland Municipal Court from 1961 to 1969. She was elected to her first term on the Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court in November 1968 and re-elected in 1974. In November 1976, she defeated Hugh Corrigan for a seat on the Eighth District Court of Appeals of Ohio.
After serving on the Supreme Court, Judge Krupansky returned to the Eighth District Court of Appeals when Gov. Rhodes appointed her to a vacant seat shortly before he left office in January 1983. Judge Krupansky campaigned successfully for election to a full six-year term in November 1988 and retired from the Appeals Court in 1995.
Affairs of the heart and matters of the court intertwined when Ms. Krupansky married fellow attorney Frank W. Vargo on April 30, 1960. The couple met while serving as co-counsels on a court case in Cleveland that they won. Judge Krupansky was selected in 1981 as a member of the Ohio Women’s Hall of Fame and received numerous other awards and honoraria. Judge Krupansky’s younger brother Robert also pursued a legal and judicial career. He served as judge for the Federal District Court for Northern Ohio and on the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati.
Contact: Chris Davey at 614.387.9250.