Blanche Ethel Krupansky (December 10, 1925 – April 14, 2008) was a

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

, United States judge who became the second woman to sit on the

Ohio Supreme Court The Ohio Supreme Court, Officially known as The Supreme Court of the State of Ohio is the highest court in the U.S. state of Ohio, with final authority over interpretations of Ohio law and the Ohio Constitution. The court has seven members, a ...

when she was appointed in 1981.

Biography

Blanche Krupansky was born in

, on December 10, 1925, to Frank and Ann Krupansky. She attended public schools and graduated from Flora Stone Mather College in Cleveland in 1947, and the

Case Western Reserve University School of Law Case Western Reserve University School of Law is one of eight schools at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. It was one of the first schools accredited by the American Bar Association. It is a member of the Association of American ...

in 1948. She began private practice in 1949, and also served as assistant Attorney General during the term of

Ohio Attorney General The Ohio Attorney General is the chief legal officer of the U.S. state, State of Ohio in the United States. The office is filled by general election, held every four years. The Ohio Attorney General is Republican Dave Yost. History The office ...

C. William O'Neill, and was assistant chief counsel to the

Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation The Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation (OBWC or BWC) provides medical and compensation benefits for work-related injuries, diseases and deaths. It was founded in 1912. With assets under management of more than $29 billion, it is the largest sta ...

. Krupansky served on the Cleveland Municipal Court from 1961 to 1969. She was elected to six year terms on the

Cuyahoga County Cuyahoga County ( or ) is a large urban County (United States), county located in the Northeast Ohio, northeastern part of the U.S. state of Ohio. It is situated on the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the Canada–United States border, U.S.- ...

Court of Common Pleas A court of common pleas is a common kind of court structure found in various common law jurisdictions. The form originated with the Court of Common Pleas at Westminster, which was created to permit individuals to press civil grievances against one ...

in November 1968 and 1974. In 1976 she won election for a seat on the 8th District Court of Appeals. In 1981, Paul W. Brown resigned from the

, and Krupansky interviewed with

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

James A. Rhodes James Allen Rhodes (September 13, 1909 – March 4, 2001) was an American Republican politician who served as Governor of Ohio from 1963 to 1971 and again from 1975 to 1983. , Rhodes was one of only seven U.S. governors to serve four four-year ...

and a group of Republicans. Rhodes appointed her effective September 1, 1981. She was the second woman to sit on the high court, after

Florence E. Allen Florence Ellinwood Allen (March 23, 1884 – September 12, 1966) was a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. She was the first woman to serve on a state supreme court and one of the first two wom ...

in the 1920s and 1930s. Krupansky had to run for election for the remainder of Brown's term in November 1982, and lost to Democrat James Celebrezze, brother of the Chief Justice

Frank Celebrezze Frank D. Celebrezze Jr. (November 13, 1928 – March 21, 2010) was an American politician and jurist of the Ohio Democratic party, having served as Chief Justice of the Ohio Supreme Court. He was elected as a judge of the Ohio Supreme Court i ...

. Krupansky returned to the 8th District Court of Appeals in January 1983, when Governor Rhodes appointed her to a vacant seat. She won election to a six-year term in 1988 and retired in 1995. She also lectured at the Case Western School of Law and was a member of its board of governors. She was selected in 1981 to the

Ohio Women's Hall of Fame The Ohio Women's Hall of Fame was a program the State of Ohio's Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, Department of Job and Family Services ran from 1978 through 2011. The Hall has over 400 members. In 2019, the Hall's physical archives a ...

. Blanche Krupansky married fellow lawyer Frank W. Vargo April 30, 1960. She died April 14, 2008, at her suburban home in

Fairview Park, Ohio Fairview Park is a city in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States. A suburb of Cleveland, it once formed part of the historical Rockport Township, along with the area of West Park and the suburbs of Lakewood and Rocky River. It borders Clevela ...

.WTAP archives
Her brother,

Robert B. Krupansky Robert Bazil Krupansky (August 15, 1921 – November 8, 2004) was a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern Dis ...

, was also a judge.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Krupansky, Blanche Ethel 1925 births 2008 deaths Lawyers from Cleveland Justices of the Ohio Supreme Court Case Western Reserve University School of Law alumni Judges of the Ohio District Courts of Appeals Ohio Republicans Cleveland Municipal Court judges 20th-century American judges 20th-century American women judges 20th-century American lawyers 21st-century American women