Frank X. “Francis” Kopinski

Sep 9, 1909 - Jan 16, 1991

Former St Joseph County Probate Judge Frank X Kopinski, 81, of Lincoln Way West, died at 2:45 pm Wednesday at Memorial Hospital. Mr Kopinski was the county's Probate Court judge for 22 years, and before that was a Portage Twp justice of the peace for 22 years.

A Democrat, he was elected judge in 1960, a post he retained until he retired at the end of 1982, after losing to current Probate Judge Peter F Nemeth in the 1982 primary election.

As Probate Court judge, Mr Kopinski handled both probate and juvenile matters as well as supervising the juvenile probation department and the staff of Parkview Juvenile Center.
He was instrumental in starting the regional juvenile correction facility, now run by the state Department of Correction and known as the South Bend Juvenile Facility. He said in 22 years on the bench he was only reversed twice on appeal.

Mr Kopinski was born Sept 5, 1909, in South Bend and was a life-long area resident.

On Oct 8, 1935, in South Bend, he married Clara Slomski. She survives, with a daughter, a son, four grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

He graduated from former Central High School in 1927 and received his bachelor's degree from the University of Notre Dame in 1931 and his law degree from there in 1933. 

He had a law practice in the former Odd Fellows Building, where he also held court after his appointment as justice of the peace. He was a member of the St Joseph County Bar Association, and the Indiana State Bar Association, American Legion Post 357 and Elks Lodge 235. He was a former president of the Polish Central and Civic Organization (Centrala) and of the Young Democrats of St Joseph County. He was former chairman of the board of M R Falcons. He was a former member of the Indiana Juvenile Judges Association, the Indiana Judges Association, the National Association of Juvenile Court Judges, and the National Council of Crime and Delinquency.

He was a veteran of the Army in World War II.

Services will be at 10 am Saturday at St Stanislaus Catholic Church. Entombment will be at Resurrection Gardens of St Joseph Cemetery. Friends may call from 1 to 9 pm Friday at Kaniewski & Sons Funeral Home, where a parish rosary will be said at 4 pm Memorial contributions may be made to any charity.

South Bend Tribune 17 January 1991

Sources: Ancestry.com, Newspapers.com and FindAGrave.com

04/16/2025 EJS

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/107545614/frank_x-kopinski