Ronald Joseph Suster (October 31, 1942 – January 15, 2024) was an American jurist and politician who served in the

Ohio House of Representatives The Ohio House of Representatives is the lower house of the Ohio General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Ohio; the other house of the bicameral legislature being the Ohio Senate. The House of Representatives first met in ...

from 1981 until 1995, and as a Common Pleas judge in

Cuyahoga County Cuyahoga County ( or , see ) is a large urban county located in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Ohio. The county seat and most populous city is Cleveland. As of the 2020 census, its population was 1,264,817, making it the second ...

from 1995 until 2012.

Early life and education

Ronald Joseph Suster was born on October 31, 1942, in

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–United States border, Canada–U.S. maritime border ...

, to Joseph Suster Jr. (1909–1959) and Frances Pryatel (1906–1997). His grandparents and father were first-generation immigrants from Slovenia. He attended Villa Angela–St. Joseph High School, a

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

college-preparatory school A college-preparatory school (often shortened to prep school, preparatory school, college prep school or college prep academy) is a type of secondary school. The term refers to state school, public, Independent school, private independent or p ...

in North Collinwood, Cleveland, and was later inducted into its Hall of Fame in 1992. Suster attended

Western Reserve University Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US * Western, New York, a town in the US * Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia * Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that ...

, receiving a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree in history and economics in 1964. He then earned a Doctorate of Jurisprudence from

Case Western Reserve University School of Law Case Western Reserve University School of Law is the law school of Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. It was one of the first schools accredited by the American Bar Association. It is a member of the Association of American Law Sc ...

in 1967, and was elected to their Society of Benchers. While at the law school, he worked in the

U.S. Postal Service The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or simply the Postal Service, is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the executive branch of the federal governmen ...

on nights and weekends. He was admitted to the Ohio State Bar in 1967, and was in private general practice from 1970 until he became a judge in 1995. He was an Assistant Law Director for the City of Cleveland, an Assistant Cuyahoga County Prosecutor, and a bar examiner for the state of Ohio. Suster was a member of the

Ohio State Bar Association The Ohio State Bar Association (OSBA) is a Bar_association#Voluntary_bar_associations, voluntary bar association for the state of Ohio. History OSBA was founded on March 6, 1880 when the Cleveland Bar Association issued a call other Ohio local ...

. He served as a Special Assistant

Ohio Attorney General The Ohio attorney general is the chief legal officer of the state of Ohio in the United States. The office is filled by general election, held every four years. The Ohio attorney general is Republican Dave Yost. History The office of the att ...

from 1971 to 1980, under William J. Brown.

Career in government

Suster was elected to the 114th Ohio House of Representatives in 1980 as a member of the Democratic Party, representing the 18th district. He took his seat in 1981. He was reelected in 1982 representing the 19th district, due to redistricting after the

1980 United States census The 1980 United States census, conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States to be 226,545,805, an increase of 11.4% over the 203,184,772 persons enumerated during the 1970 census. It was the first ce ...

. He retained that seat until 1993, when he won election in the 14th district. During his tenure in the House of Representatives, he served as chairman of four House committees: House Ethics (1983–84), Civil & Commercial Law (1985–86), Financial Institutions (1987–90), and Judiciary & Criminal Justice (1993–94). All four districts he served in were located in eastern

. In 1995, he resigned from the House of Representatives when he was appointed to the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas by

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

George Voinovich George Victor Voinovich (July 15, 1936June 12, 2016) was an American politician who served as a United States senator from Ohio from 1999 to 2011. He previously served as the 65th governor of Ohio from 1991 to 1998 and as the 54th mayor of Clev ...

. He was a judge in the court's General Division until his mandatory retirement at age 70 in 2012, though he occasionally was assigned to adjudicate further cases. Among other notable cases, he presided over the 2000 wrongful imprisonment civil case regarding the late Dr.

Sam Sheppard Samuel Holmes Sheppard ( – ) was an American osteopath. He was convicted of the 1954 murder of his pregnant wife, Marilyn Reese Sheppard, but the conviction was eventually overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court, which cited a "carnival atmosp ...

. Suster was the Democratic candidate in the 1998 Ohio Supreme Court election. He received 781,103 votes, but lost to the incumbent Republican

Paul Pfeifer Paul E. Pfeifer (born October 15, 1942) is an American politician and jurist. He served in both houses of the Ohio General Assembly as a member of the Ohio Republican party and was most recently an associate justice of the Supreme Court of Ohio. ...

(who received 1,947,916 votes).

Personal life and death

Suster married Patricia Hocevar on July 19, 1974, at St. Paschal Baylon Parish in

Highland Heights, Ohio Highland Heights is a city in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States. The city's population was 8,719 as of the 2020 census. An eastern suburb of Cleveland, it is part of the Cleveland metropolitan area. History Highland Heights was originally par ...

. They have three children and seven grandchildren. Ron Suster died on January 15, 2024, at the age of 81. He is buried at All Souls Cemetery in

Chardon, Ohio Chardon is a city in Geauga County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. The population was 5,242 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census.1942 births 2024 deaths Democratic Party members of the Ohio House of Representatives Case Western Reserve University alumni Politicians from Cleveland 20th-century members of the Ohio General Assembly