Probate Court Judge Leo P. Morley dies

YOUNGSTOWN — Leo P. Morley, longtime judge of Mahoning County Probate Court, has died. He was 80.

He was a Youngstown Municipal Court judge from 1969 until 1984, when he was elected as probate court judge. He served on the probate court bench from 1985 until 1997.

Judge Morley was an Army veteran who served in World War II and the Korean conflict. He received the Bronze Star and Purple Heart while serving in Korea.

A graduate of Ursuline High School and Kent State University, he earned his law degree from Western Reserve University Law School and passed the Ohio State Bar Examination in 1958.

He served as a staff lawyer for the late Probate Court Judge Clifford M. Woodside, and was chief deputy for the late Probate Court Judge Charles P. Henderson.

He was a longtime advocate of the Mahoning County Board of Mental Retardation and Development Disabilities and received its John C. Vitullo Memorial Award in 1983.

He also was a three-time recipient of the service award presented by the Ohio Supreme Court. The Ancient Order of Hibernians honored him as Irishman of the Year in 1971, and the Morley Pavilion in Mill Creek Park is named in his honor.

Friends may call from 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday and 10:30 a.m. Monday at Higgins-Reardon Funeral Home, Austintown, and services will be at 11 a.m. Monday in St. Brendan Church.