Obituary: Raymond L. Casper / District judge in Sharpsburg for 18 years
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Raymond L. Casper believed in second chances.
"That's why they put erasers on pencils," he said in 1983, three years after the longtime district judge in Sharpsburg pioneered community service programs for young offenders.
Mr. Casper died Friday at the age of 85 at the Concordia at Rebecca Residence in West Deer, where the Sharpsburg native had lived for the past several years.
A graduate of Sharpsburg High School who served with the Marine Corps in the Pacific during World War II, Mr. Casper worked for Allegheny County for 20 years as the supervisor of county assessors and in the prothonotary's office.
He was elected district judge in 1979 and held office until his retirement in 1997, marrying hundreds of couples, including an 87-year-old man and his 85-year-old bride, during his tenure. He also continued to serve as a senior district judge after retirement.
"The coolest thing is that he married so many people," said Mr. Casper's daughter, Donna Bigatel of Hampton. "People knew him well."
On June 11, 1949, Mr. Casper married Ruth Babash of the North Side, whom he had met at a dance. Mrs. Casper died four years ago.
Mr. Casper was also an avid runner. Though he made a habit of running for most of his adult life, Mr. Casper gave up smoking in his mid-30s and began taking his health more seriously, running up to 12 miles a day.
Most days, he could be seen running along Route 28 from his home in Sharpsburg to the New Kensington bridge, Ms. Bigatel said.
Mr. Casper introduced his other daughter, Susan Farino of Richland, to her husband, Stephen Farino, in 1986.
Ellarose Kuchta of Sharpsburg, a close friend of the Caspers, remembered Mr. Casper as "a very nice, very respectable guy."
Ms. Kuchta, who served as chairwoman of the Democratic Party in Sharpsburg for 12 years, until 2010, said Mr. Casper's juvenile justice program was "very effective" and considered quite novel at the time.
First Published February 13, 2012 12:58 am
