Esteemed county Judge Francis J. Fornelli dead at age 81
Aug. 9—MERCER — Senior Judge Francis J. Fornelli, who served 21 years as president judge on the Mercer County Court of Common Pleas, died Aug. 2, a day after his 81st birthday.
Fornelli was one of the longest-serving judges in Mercer County history, having joined court in 1982 and remaining until the end of 2011.
At 40 upon his election to common pleas court, he was the youngest judge in county history.
He also served for about 30 years as a member of the State Judicial Ethics Committee.
Fornelli was universally respected by lawyers, defendants and his peers.
During his time on the state ethics committee, Fornelli served with Lehigh County Judge Edward Reibman, who called him a "judge's judge" in a 2012 interview for "Life and Times," The Herald's senior lifestyles magazine.
Fornelli graduated magna cum laude from the University of Notre Dame. He earned his law degree from NYU School of Law, where he was a Root-Tilden Law Scholar, a scholarship named after former New York Gov. Samuel Tilden and former Secretary of State Elihu Root and intended to encourage public service among law school graduates.
Fornelli served on numerous boards of directors for religious, charitable, and civic organizations in Mercer County.
A devout Catholic, Fornelli once considered entering the priesthood and taught religious education for more than 40 years.
He retired from the bench at the end of 2011 at the mandatory retirement age of 70, then served as a senior judge until reaching its mandatory retirement age of 78.
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