Nanticoke native A. Peter Kanjorski, brother of former U.S. Rep. Paul E. Kanjorski and a respected member of the Luzerne County legal community, has died.
Colleagues remember Mr. Kanjorski, who was 77 when he died last week, as a quiet, laid-back man who, although sharp and astute in the courtroom, had a lighter side outside it.
Mr. Kanjorski earned his law degree from the University of Pennsylvania Law School and started out in practice with his father, also named A. Peter Kanjorski, and brother Paul in Wilkes-Barre. He was a longtime member of the Wilkes-Barre Law & Library Association and the Pennsylvania Bar Association.
Law & Library Association President attorney Joseph F. Saporito Jr. of Pittston called Mr. Kanjorski a "very well respected" practitioner who comes from a long line of legal professionals.
"I'm certain he will be sadly missed by our organization, his clientele, and the community in which he served as well," Mr. Saporito said.
Peter Kanjorski was a founder of the Earth Conservancy, serving as its director from 1994 to 2004. The nonprofit organization, which his brother was pivotal in creating while in Congress, reclaims mine-scarred land for reuse or as greenspace.
"I'm just very, very surprised and saddened by our loss. He was one of the founding members of the Earth Conservancy and was very helpful in the beginning years," Earth Conservancy Executive Director Mike Dziak said. "I have a lot of great memories of our involvement together."
Gov. Robert P. Casey appointed Mr. Kanjorski to the state's workers' compensation appeal board, where he served from 1990 to 1995 and chaired the board. Afterward, he was appointed judge on the U.S. Department of Labor's workers' compensation appeals board, where he served until retiring in 2005.
Attorney Art Piccone of Kingston practiced law with the senior Mr. Kanjorski at one point, and tried cases both with and against the Kanjorski brothers.
Mr. Piccone served as a workers' compensation judge, presiding over non-jury trials for people in work-related accidents. He said Mr. Kanjorski, on the appeals board, ruled "sometimes in my favor and sometimes opposed to me." But Mr. Kanjorski's decisions were invariably sustained; he was "very astute and very bright," and had a sense for understanding facts and whether they were consistent with the law, he said.
Besides working with him in a professional context, Mr. Piccone knew Mr. Kanjorski socially and remembers having coffee with him mornings at the restaurant downstairs in the days when Boscov's was Fowler, Dick and Walker.
Mr. Piccone recalled Mr. Kanjorski as quiet and laid-back: "He was just very even-tempered, very mild."
And Mr. Kanjorski had another side: he was a remarkable roller skater who was "a lot more loquacious and smiling when he was out in the roller rink."
"He was a good guy and a nice friend, and I think he will be missed. Very much so," Mr. Piccone said.
Contact the writer: eskrapits@citizensvoice.com