Judge Penzien Recalled as Tough on Crime, Making Bay County Safe Community
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Eugene C. Penzien served nine years as prosecutor, 17 as circuit judge.
"Hey, Dad, are you working on any good cases?" Douglas Penzien asked his father, Circuit Judge Eugene C. Penzien, once in a moment of innocence.
The judge replied tersely: "Son, there are no good cases. I'm making decisions that willchange the lives of people forever."
Mr. Penzien, retired Bay County Circuit Judge and the county's first full-time prosecuting attorney, was laid to rest last Thursday with rites from the First United Methodist Church.
"He's on his final journey home and I'm sure he's singing," concluded Douglas Penzien, referring to his father's lifelong proclivity for song.
The judge died Oct. 10, ironically on his birthday. He was born in 1932 and was exactly 72 years old.
Besides his son's memorial, Mr. Penzien was eulogized by colleagues David Skinner, Jim Hammond and fellow Circuit Judge William Caprathe, whose comments were read by his daughter.
"His tough stance on crime led to Bay County being one of the safest places in the state to live," said Judge Caprathe, adding: "Criminals are still reluctant to cross the county line because of fear of our courts."
Mr. Hammond told of Judge Penzien's legendary habits of hard work and perfectionism. He gave an example of a word apparently misspelled in a letter typed by a secretary. After she showed him the word in a dictionary, Judge Penzien immediately dictated another letter -- informing the editors of the dictionary thatthey had misspelled the word. "That was Gene," commented Mr. Hammond.
Mr. Skinner recalled one of his first cases when he was a partner with Mr. Penzien and the late Ira W. Butterfield, also a former circuit judge.
Skinner and Penzien in 1967 were appointed by the court to represent John Woos, Korean-born accused slayer of theatre manager Floyd Ackerman in 1943. Woos had spent about 24 years in prison and had won a new trial with the help of Mr. Butterfield. The pair holed up for two weeks in a motel near Pontiac, where the case was sent for retrial because of adverse publicity here. The case was heard by the late Circuit Judge John X. Theiler.
Mr. Skinner recalled gruelling days and nights reading memos and law books, basing their case on recent court decisions that set new standards for arrests and prosecution such as the landmark Gideon v. Wainwright, a case from Bay County, Florida. "We left no stone unturned and almost all the evidence was thrown out. Woos was found not guilty and was freed from prison," Mr. Skinner recalled.
As a judge, Penzien stressed the dignity of every person, Mr. Skinner said. "He had an unwavering adherence to principle and an intense concern for every litigant appearing before him. He wanted everyone to be treated fairly and justly. He was like a brother to me and so many others."
Judge Penzien, a resident of Auburn with his wife Mary, had been retired since 1996 and had been a sole practitioner in an arbitration service since his retirement. He had served as prosecutor from 1969-78 and was elected circuit judge in 1978.
"Having rendered over 22,000 decisions from the bench, there is no doubt that this fine jurist has left his mark on Bay County," former U.S. Rep. James A. Barcia entered into the Congressional Record upon Judge Penzien's retirement.
He was born in Lapeer and moved to Bay City in 1943 when his father came here to establish a funeral home, now known as Penzien-Steele Funeral Home. Mr. Penzien was a graduate of Central High, Bay City Junior College and the University of Michigan Law School.
Burial was in Elm Lawn Cemetery with the Rev. Steven Woodford officiating.###
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