Stephen A. Zappala Sr. (September 26, 1932 – May 21, 2021) was a Pennsylvania Supreme Court Chief Justice.

Family

Zappala is the son of Josephine (Andalona) Zappala and Frank Joseph Zappala. Frank Zappala was an Italian immigrant who came to America in the early 1900s with both his parents, Carmella and Joseph Zappala, and Frank's other siblings. They all originally lived in New York City, in the Bronx, on Mott Street. Slowly the whole family relocated to Pennsylvania. The Zappalas like many of the early Italian immigrants had little to no education, but Frank Zappala finished both college and then the University of Pittsburgh Law school. He later became a magistrate and state legislator. Zappala was the father of Stephen A. Zappala Jr., a Democratic politician and District Attorney of

Allegheny County, Pennsylvania Allegheny County ( ) is a County (United States), county in Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,250,578, making it the List of counties in Pennsylvania, state's second-most populous county, after Philadelp ...

Career

Zappala served as the director of the Allegheny County Authority for Improvement of Municipalities in the early 1970s, and was appointed solicitor of Carnegie Borough in February 1972. In January 1980, Zappala joined the Allegheny County

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 ...

. Zappala joined the Pennsylvania Supreme Court on January 3, 1983. He assumed the position of chief justice on January 1, 2002.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zappala, Stephen Sr. 1932 births 2021 deaths Justices of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania People from Allegheny County, Pennsylvania American people of Italian descent Central Catholic High School (Pittsburgh) alumni