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Leroy John Contie, Jr., son of Leroy J. and Mary Madeline
(DeSantis) Contie, was born April 2, 1920 in Canton, Ohio. He attended the University of
Michigan and received his bachelor of arts degree in 1941. He entered law school at the
University of Michigan and shortly thereafter, Pearl Harbor was bombed. Contie
joined the United States Army and served until 1946.
After a four-year absence, Contie returned to the University of Michigan Law School and completed his last two years, graduating in 1948. After admittance to the Ohio Bar, he immediately joined his father's law practice in Canton. After only three years of practice, Contie was elected city solicitor (later changed to law director) of Canton in 1951. Together with safety director Stan Cmich, he entered into the aggressive attack on local crime, working both to rid the police department of corruption and to eliminate gambling, prostitution, and other crimes within the City of Canton. As a result of his active participation in the crime cleanup, Contie's home was bombed. Even though extensive damage was done to his home and to a neighbor's residence, Contie was not injured.
During his four terms as law director, Contie handled all legal matters relative to the construction of Route 77 and Route 62 through Canton. He acquired land for the construction of the highways and tried lawsuits for the acquiring of other land. He was appointed an assistant attorney general so he could prosecute the land acquisition cases on behalf of the state. Contie also drafted the first city income tax for the City of Canton, and organized the first city income tax office. He handled contracts and legal matters relative to the construction of a new city hall in Canton and the acquisition of a new water supply for the city.
Contie chose not to run for a fifth term as law director when his father became ill and left city office in 1960 to return to private practice. Shortly thereafter, he was elected Chairman of the Charter Commission for the City of Canton to study the feasibility of the adoption of a charter form of city government. Subsequently, he was named a member of the Stark County Board of Elections and in 1969, he was appointed judge of the Court of Common Pleas of Stark County by then Governor James A. Rhodes.
On December 6, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon appointed Contie to the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio. He took the oath of office on December 17, 1971. From 1971 until June 1, 1975, Judge Contie kept his resident chambers in Cleveland, driving daily from Canton. For six months in 1974, he handled all the cases on the Youngstown docket and in 1975, was designated the first district judge to sit at the newly constructed courthouse in Akron, Ohio. Judge Contie continued to keep his offices in Akron even after his appointment to the circuit court.
On March 23, 1982, President Ronald W. Reagan elevated Contie to the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. After four years on the appeals court, Judge Contie became Senior United States Circuit Judge on June 30, 1986. He closed his office in Akron on May 15, 2000.
Judge Contie has received the Sigma Phi Epsilon National Citation and is a member of Omicron Delta Kappa. He is a member of the American Bar Association, the Federal Bar Association, the American Judicature Society, the Ohio Bar Association, the Stark County Bar Association, the Cuyahoga County Bar Association, the Akron Bar Association, Sigma Phi Epsilon, and Phi Alpha Delta. He has served as a trustee of the Stark County Legal Aid and was on the board of directors of the American Red Cross and on the Advisory Boards of Walsh College and the University of Akron Law School. He is a fourth degree member of the Knights of Columbus, and a member of the Stark County Historical Society, Elks, and the American Legion--Canton Chapter. In addition, the University of Akron conferred an honorary LL.D. degree upon Judge Contie in 1993.
Contie married Janice Zollars on November 28, 1953. They are the parents of two children, Ann J. (Contie) Benson and Leroy John, III. Judge Contie died on May 11, 2001, following complications from surgery.
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