Former Mayor Kryzan dies at age 96

By DAVID SKOLNICK

skolnick@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

Frank X. Kryzan, a former Youngstown mayor and municipal court judge who ran for elected office 14 times, is dead.

Kryzan, 96, died Saturday in Crown Point, Ind., where he had lived for the past six years.

“You couldn’t help but like Frank Kryzan,” said Mahoning County Common Pleas Court Judge James Evans, who was a defense attorney who had many cases in front of Kryzan.

“He was an outstanding judge,” Judge Evans added. “He was laid back, quiet, unassuming. When you got a decision from him, you knew it was thought through.”

Kryzan, who passed the bar in 1939, was a credit to the legal profession, said Charles Bannon, a retired county common pleas court judge.

“I had a ton of respect for Frank Kryzan,” Bannon said. “I was always impressed with how he handled himself. When you saw him, he commanded respect.”

Patrick Ungaro had Kryzan swear him in when he won his first term as Youngstown mayor in 1983.

“He was a great guy,” Ungaro said. “He was a legend. He was a pretty unique guy.”

Kryzan, a Democrat, had his ups and downs in politics.

He first ran for Youngstown council president in 1947, losing the Democratic primary to William D. Holt.

When the seat was open two years later, Kryzan won. He also was successful in his re-election bid in 1951.

Kryzan challenged three-term Mayor Charles P. Henderson, a Republican, in the 1953 Youngstown mayoral race.

In a close race, Kryzan beat Henderson by about 2 percentage points to become mayor. Kryzan was re-elected in 1955 to a second two-year term.

He then unsuccessfully sought the Democratic gubernatorial nomination in 1956, finishing a distant fourth out of five candidates.

Kryzan was re-elected mayor in 1957. But he lost the 1959 Democratic primary, finishing third out of four candidates.

In 1960 and 1966, Kryzan won the Democratic primary for county common pleas court judicial seats but lost to incumbent Republicans both times.

He attempted another failed political comeback, losing to then-Youngstown Mayor Anthony B. Flask in the 1969 Democratic primary.

Then-Gov. John Gilligan, a Democrat, appointed Kryzan in 1972 to fill a vacancy on the Youngstown Municipal Court bench.

Kryzan successfully ran in 1973 for the remaining two years of that unexpired term.

He was re-elected to six-year terms in 1975 and 1981.

Kryzan couldn’t run for another term in 1987 because state law prohibits those who are 70 or older from seeking an elected judicial position.