Joseph Francis “Joe” O'Kicki

In memoriam

In memory of a beloved husband and father. Rest in God's peace with the angels.

Joseph F. Okicki, the "Run-Away Judge," was the son of poor Slovenian immigrants: a blue collar worker at the Franklin Steel Mills and a stay-at-home mom. Joe graduated from Franklin High School in 1947. He was awarded a scholarship and fortunately was able to attend the University of Pittsburgh. He graduated with a BS in Physical Chemistry, an then applied to Pitt Law School but his entrance was blocked for a time because he was called " A Red" because of his connection with the Slovene National Benefit Society. It was the McCarthy era. . But he managed to overcome the objections of local lawyers, and entered law school. Unfortunately the Korean Conflict intervened and the draft board found him A-1. He served in the Navy and after his service, he went back to law school. After graduating from law school, he had great difficulty finding a position as a law clerk because of prior "red" connections. . But he found a position, and after he completed the clerkship, he opened his own practice. In 1972 he ran successfully for Judge, a position which he officially retained until 1991 when he was not re-elected. Not long after he was sworn in as "President Judge" In 1988, a full-blown campaign to remove him from office led by the first and second ever elected Attorney General in PA and funded by local power brokers, hit full force. Wilbur Schonek, a local puppet master who pulled many politician's strings, publicly stated that "No Hunky will ever become President Judge of Cambria County, " The campaign was successful in finding him guilty of 6 counts in 1989, after initially bringing over 80 charges in the indictment. The pre-publicity and daily reports by the local paper leaked to them by the Attorney General (AG), over 250 articles mostly on the front page, poisoned the minds of locals who were subject to the constant daily harangues in the newspaper and on TV. After the Superior Court upheld the trial courts decision, and a refusal by the Supreme Court to hear his appeal in February 1993, his prison sentence was to take effect. Joe found out in advance about the Supreme Court refusal, packed his suitcase, and drove to Canada, where he flew to the land of his parents, Slovenia. Legally, he was a citizen because both parents were born there. All half-hearted attempts by the AG and sheriff to extract him in 1993 from Slovenia failed. Joe O'Kicki worked from 1993-1996 in Ljubljana, the Capitol. He died in Slovenia at the Oncology Institute from cancer metastasis and heart disease and is buried in Žale Cemetery, which was designed by the famous architect Jože Plečnik. Joe was the father of 9 children, 7 daughers and 2 sons, who all attended college. He funded the college education of the 7 daughters through holding extra jobs and mortgages on his home. He died when the 2 sons were children.

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