Judge remembered for her humanity, firsts
U.S. Circuit Judge Carol Los Mansmann enjoyed a career filled with firsts. She was the first woman to prosecute a murder case in Allegheny County, youngest woman to argue before the U.S. Supreme Court and first woman appointed to the federal bench in Pittsburgh.
Yet what many people remember about her is grace, kindness and appreciation of the human faces behind the cases she presided over.
Carol Los Mansmann, of Sewickley, died Saturday, March 9, 2002, of breast cancer at UPMC Montefiore. She was 59.
U.S. District Court Judge D. Brooks Smith recalled how Judge Mansmann took him under her wing when he joined the federal bench in Pittsburgh. In 1988, Smith filled the opening created when Judge Mansmann was elevated to the 3rd Circuit.
"She contacted me and suggested we meet. I learned immediately what a gracious and friendly, bright and energetic person Carol Mansmann was," Smith said. "I felt I struck up a very special relationship with her because of her reaching out to me at the very start."
Judge Mansmann has been lauded as a role model for women, but Smith said she was a role model for all jurists.
"She was someone of such great competency and kindness as to be a role model for everyone in the profession," Smith said. "I will always remember her humanity. She realized there are real people behind each and every case that we decide."
U.S. District Court Judge Robert J. Cindrich once partnered with Judge Mansmann and her husband, J. Jerome "Jerry" Mansmann, in the Downtown law firm McVerry Baxter Cindrich & Mansmann.
"She is a person to be admired. She was of high intellect and a wonderful person. She has been through a living hell but she never complained." Cindrich said. "She just kept working like she always did. She really was a remarkable person."
Senior U.S. District Court Judge Donald E. Ziegler grew up with Judge Mansmann in Dormont and they both graduated from Dormont High School .
"Judge Mansmann was an outstanding judge and a courageous person," he said. "She was intelligent, conscientious and hardworking, and she was a great teacher to all of us concerning how to live life to the fullest and with courage. She was the king's good servant but God's first."
Judge Mansmann was born in Polish Hill, the daughter of Walter Joseph and Regina Mary Pilarska Los. She graduated from Duquesne University in 1964 and was one of the two women to graduate from its law school in 1967.
In 1968, she became an assistant district attorney for Allegheny County and became the first woman to prosecute a murder case in the county, getting a conviction.
In 1970, Judge Mansmann became the youngest woman to argue before the U.S. Supreme Court. She won the case, Chambers vs. Marone.
From 1974-79 she was assistant to the state attorney general, and worked at a private practice.
Judge Mansmann was an associate professor of law from 1974-83 at Duquesne University, and became an adjunct professor in 1987.
Longtime friend Joy Flowers Conti also taught at the law school while Judge Mansmann was there. She said Judge Mansmann was dedicated to her profession, but also a wonderful mother dedicated to her family.
"Family was number one in her life," Conti said. "Her family was very important to her."
She said Judge Mansmann never forgot her Polish roots and handed out bread she had baked as gifts.
"The bread was good, too," Conti said. "No one can take her place. No one had her spirit. She was unique."
Judge Mansmann was twice nominated for positions by President Ronald Reagan. The first nomination was for a seat with the U.S. District Court in 1982. The second was for a seat on the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals three years later. She was the first woman to be appointed to a federal position in Pittsburgh.
Judge Mansmann is survived by her husband, J. Jerome Mansmann; children, Michael, Casey and Patrick Mansmann, all of Sewickley, and Megan Gallagher of Los Angeles; sisters, Gloria Baytosh of Orange, Calif.; Patricia Burke and Kathleen Los, both of Gulf Port, Fla., and Rosemary Lieberman of Lake Havasu, Ariz.; a brother, Larry Los of Santa Maria, Calif.; and one granddaughter, Caitlin Gallagher.
Visitation will be held from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. today and Wednesday at H. Samson Funeral Home, 537 N. Neville St., Oakland. There will also be visitation Thursday from 9 to 11 a.m., followed by a Mass of Christian Burial at St. James Church, 200 Walnut St., Sewickley.
Memorials may be made to Duquesne University Annual Fund, Carol Los Mansmann Memorial, c/o Duquesne University, 600 Forbes Ave., Pittsburgh, PA 15282.
