A dedicated public servant and judge. Served as Mercer County President Judge for many years.
John Q. Stranahan, 79, a retired Mercer County Court judge, died of cancer Friday at Buchanan Commons, a nursing home in Grove City, where he had been a resident for two weeks.
Judge Stranahan served on the court for two decades. For 17 of those years, he was president judge, retiring in 1985 to become a senior judge.
He continued to hear cases until his illness was diagnosed in January, but even then, he regularly went to work.
Edmund Spaeth, a retired president judge of the Superior Court, called Judge Stranahan a colleague and very good friend.
"I often sought his opinions, which were always careful and thoughtful," Spaeth said.
One of Judge Stranahan's legacies is the chapel at the State Regional Correction Facility at Mercer.
He had been an early backer of the prison, which opened in 1978. Concerned that there was no provision for worship, he spearheaded a campaign to establish an interfaith chapel.
After several attempts to find a structure that could be moved to the prison grounds, he happened upon a shuttered Stuckey's restaurant along Interstate 80.
The chapel committee bought the building and then solicited contributions from churches, private donors, and anyone with a spare pew, pulpit or hymnal.
The chapel was dedicated in 1989.
The educational and vocational building at the prison is named in his honor.
Judge Stranahan was a lifelong resident of Mercer.
He graduated from Mercer High School in 1939, from the College of Wooster in Ohio in 1942, and from Western Reserve Law School in 1947.
During World War II, he served in the Navy aboard a destroyer in the Pacific. He was discharged as a lieutenant and was awarded the Silver Star.
After law school, Judge Stranahan joined his father in the firm of Stranahan & Sampson in Mercer.
In 1955, he was elected district attorney of Mercer County and was reelected four years later.
In 1965, he was elected to the Mercer County Court.
Judge Stranahan served as president of the Pennsylvania Conference of State Trial Judges from 1974 to 1975. In 1979, he was appointed to the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency.
He was a board member of the American Judicature Society; a member of the George W. Wright Student Aid Fund of Mercer; a former director of the Urban League of the Shenango Valley; and a member of the Mercer County Bar Association for more than 50 years.
Judge Stranahan also was a member of Trinity Presbyterian Church and the Great Chebeague Island Golf Club in Maine.
He is survived by his wife of 56 years, Carol Scott Stranahan; daughters, Susan Q. Stranahan, a reporter for The Inquirer, Patricia Stranahan and Kathleen S. Eichner; a granddaughter; a sister, and a brother.
A memorial service will be held at 4 p.m. Wednesday at Trinity Presbyterian Church, 110 East Market St., Mercer.
Burial is private.
Memorial contributions may be made to Mercer Area Library, 145 North Pitt St., Mercer, Pa. 16137.
~Contributed
John Q. Stranahan, 79, a retired Mercer County Court judge, died of cancer Friday at Buchanan Commons, a nursing home in Grove City, where he had been a resident for two weeks.
Judge Stranahan served on the court for two decades. For 17 of those years, he was president judge, retiring in 1985 to become a senior judge.
He continued to hear cases until his illness was diagnosed in January, but even then, he regularly went to work.
Edmund Spaeth, a retired president judge of the Superior Court, called Judge Stranahan a colleague and very good friend.
"I often sought his opinions, which were always careful and thoughtful," Spaeth said.
One of Judge Stranahan's legacies is the chapel at the State Regional Correction Facility at Mercer.
He had been an early backer of the prison, which opened in 1978. Concerned that there was no provision for worship, he spearheaded a campaign to establish an interfaith chapel.
After several attempts to find a structure that could be moved to the prison grounds, he happened upon a shuttered Stuckey's restaurant along Interstate 80.
The chapel committee bought the building and then solicited contributions from churches, private donors, and anyone with a spare pew, pulpit or hymnal.
The chapel was dedicated in 1989.
The educational and vocational building at the prison is named in his honor.
Judge Stranahan was a lifelong resident of Mercer.
He graduated from Mercer High School in 1939, from the College of Wooster in Ohio in 1942, and from Western Reserve Law School in 1947.
During World War II, he served in the Navy aboard a destroyer in the Pacific. He was discharged as a lieutenant and was awarded the Silver Star.
After law school, Judge Stranahan joined his father in the firm of Stranahan & Sampson in Mercer.
In 1955, he was elected district attorney of Mercer County and was reelected four years later.
In 1965, he was elected to the Mercer County Court.
Judge Stranahan served as president of the Pennsylvania Conference of State Trial Judges from 1974 to 1975. In 1979, he was appointed to the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency.
He was a board member of the American Judicature Society; a member of the George W. Wright Student Aid Fund of Mercer; a former director of the Urban League of the Shenango Valley; and a member of the Mercer County Bar Association for more than 50 years.
Judge Stranahan also was a member of Trinity Presbyterian Church and the Great Chebeague Island Golf Club in Maine.
He is survived by his wife of 56 years, Carol Scott Stranahan; daughters, Susan Q. Stranahan, a reporter for The Inquirer, Patricia Stranahan and Kathleen S. Eichner; a granddaughter; a sister, and a brother.
A memorial service will be held at 4 p.m. Wednesday at Trinity Presbyterian Church, 110 East Market St., Mercer.
Burial is private.
Memorial contributions may be made to Mercer Area Library, 145 North Pitt St., Mercer, Pa. 16137.
~Contributed
A dedicated public servant and judge. Served as Mercer County President Judge for many years.
John Q. Stranahan, 79, a retired Mercer County Court judge, died of cancer Friday at Buchanan Commons, a nursing home in Grove City, where he had been a resident for two weeks.
Judge Stranahan served on the court for two decades. For 17 of those years, he was president judge, retiring in 1985 to become a senior judge.
He continued to hear cases until his illness was diagnosed in January, but even then, he regularly went to work.
Edmund Spaeth, a retired president judge of the Superior Court, called Judge Stranahan a colleague and very good friend.
"I often sought his opinions, which were always careful and thoughtful," Spaeth said.
One of Judge Stranahan's legacies is the chapel at the State Regional Correction Facility at Mercer.
He had been an early backer of the prison, which opened in 1978. Concerned that there was no provision for worship, he spearheaded a campaign to establish an interfaith chapel.
After several attempts to find a structure that could be moved to the prison grounds, he happened upon a shuttered Stuckey's restaurant along Interstate 80.
The chapel committee bought the building and then solicited contributions from churches, private donors, and anyone with a spare pew, pulpit or hymnal.
The chapel was dedicated in 1989.
The educational and vocational building at the prison is named in his honor.
Judge Stranahan was a lifelong resident of Mercer.
He graduated from Mercer High School in 1939, from the College of Wooster in Ohio in 1942, and from Western Reserve Law School in 1947.
During World War II, he served in the Navy aboard a destroyer in the Pacific. He was discharged as a lieutenant and was awarded the Silver Star.
After law school, Judge Stranahan joined his father in the firm of Stranahan & Sampson in Mercer.
In 1955, he was elected district attorney of Mercer County and was reelected four years later.
In 1965, he was elected to the Mercer County Court.
Judge Stranahan served as president of the Pennsylvania Conference of State Trial Judges from 1974 to 1975. In 1979, he was appointed to the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency.
He was a board member of the American Judicature Society; a member of the George W. Wright Student Aid Fund of Mercer; a former director of the Urban League of the Shenango Valley; and a member of the Mercer County Bar Association for more than 50 years.
Judge Stranahan also was a member of Trinity Presbyterian Church and the Great Chebeague Island Golf Club in Maine.
He is survived by his wife of 56 years, Carol Scott Stranahan; daughters, Susan Q. Stranahan, a reporter for The Inquirer, Patricia Stranahan and Kathleen S. Eichner; a granddaughter; a sister, and a brother.
A memorial service will be held at 4 p.m. Wednesday at Trinity Presbyterian Church, 110 East Market St., Mercer.
Burial is private.
Memorial contributions may be made to Mercer Area Library, 145 North Pitt St., Mercer, Pa. 16137.
~Contributed
John Q. Stranahan, 79, a retired Mercer County Court judge, died of cancer Friday at Buchanan Commons, a nursing home in Grove City, where he had been a resident for two weeks.
Judge Stranahan served on the court for two decades. For 17 of those years, he was president judge, retiring in 1985 to become a senior judge.
He continued to hear cases until his illness was diagnosed in January, but even then, he regularly went to work.
Edmund Spaeth, a retired president judge of the Superior Court, called Judge Stranahan a colleague and very good friend.
"I often sought his opinions, which were always careful and thoughtful," Spaeth said.
One of Judge Stranahan's legacies is the chapel at the State Regional Correction Facility at Mercer.
He had been an early backer of the prison, which opened in 1978. Concerned that there was no provision for worship, he spearheaded a campaign to establish an interfaith chapel.
After several attempts to find a structure that could be moved to the prison grounds, he happened upon a shuttered Stuckey's restaurant along Interstate 80.
The chapel committee bought the building and then solicited contributions from churches, private donors, and anyone with a spare pew, pulpit or hymnal.
The chapel was dedicated in 1989.
The educational and vocational building at the prison is named in his honor.
Judge Stranahan was a lifelong resident of Mercer.
He graduated from Mercer High School in 1939, from the College of Wooster in Ohio in 1942, and from Western Reserve Law School in 1947.
During World War II, he served in the Navy aboard a destroyer in the Pacific. He was discharged as a lieutenant and was awarded the Silver Star.
After law school, Judge Stranahan joined his father in the firm of Stranahan & Sampson in Mercer.
In 1955, he was elected district attorney of Mercer County and was reelected four years later.
In 1965, he was elected to the Mercer County Court.
Judge Stranahan served as president of the Pennsylvania Conference of State Trial Judges from 1974 to 1975. In 1979, he was appointed to the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency.
He was a board member of the American Judicature Society; a member of the George W. Wright Student Aid Fund of Mercer; a former director of the Urban League of the Shenango Valley; and a member of the Mercer County Bar Association for more than 50 years.
Judge Stranahan also was a member of Trinity Presbyterian Church and the Great Chebeague Island Golf Club in Maine.
He is survived by his wife of 56 years, Carol Scott Stranahan; daughters, Susan Q. Stranahan, a reporter for The Inquirer, Patricia Stranahan and Kathleen S. Eichner; a granddaughter; a sister, and a brother.
A memorial service will be held at 4 p.m. Wednesday at Trinity Presbyterian Church, 110 East Market St., Mercer.
Burial is private.
Memorial contributions may be made to Mercer Area Library, 145 North Pitt St., Mercer, Pa. 16137.
~Contributed
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