Tom Kirvan
Legal News, Editor-in-Chief
Legal News, Editor-in-Chief
By his own admission, longtime Oakland County Circuit Judge Gene Schnelz had plans for a grand funeral when he passed.
Those plans, unfortunately, fell victim to COVID in December of 2020, just one of countless gatherings around the globe that were cancelled, postponed, or dramatically downsized because of the contagious nature of the disease.
When the beloved jurist died during that fateful year at the age of 87, his December 7 funeral service was limited to just a few family members so as not to become a super-spreader event.
“It wasn’t what any of us wanted in terms of a celebration of his life, but under the circumstances it was all that we could do,” said his son, attorney Kurt Schnelz, in the aftermath of the memorial service.
Earlier this month, Judge Schnelz received another posthumous tribute when the Oakland County Bar Association unveiled a memorial plaque in his honor at a special ceremony on Law Day. Four of his former judicial colleagues – Alice Gilbert, Richard Kuhn, Jack McDonald, and Edward Sosnick – also were in the ceremonial spotlight that day with their respective memorial plaques.
While reflecting on the meaningful ceremony, I was led back to the first time I met Judge Schnelz in the spring of 2007. The occasion was a royal retirement salute in his honor that drew hundreds of well-wishers to a reception at a country club in West Bloomfield.
It was billed as a “series of short talks EULOGIZING the Judge for his sweetness, kindness, patience, wonderful temperament . . .”
It was not his funeral. He preferred that wait awhile. When that inevitable day did arrive, however, Judge Schnelz knew that his many friends and admirers would be poised for action.
“Harold Bulgarelli, a longtime friend and a retired district court judge, once told me that he was working on my eulogy and it was up to 40 pages,” Schnelz recalled at the time. “Years later when I asked him how it was coming, he said it was now down to a moment of silence.”
Such humor, whether he was on the giving or receiving end, was a Schnelz trademark. Betty Lowenthal, a longtime Friend of the Court referee in Oakland County, could attest to that fact. She got her first taste while interviewing for a clerkship opening with the newly-minted Circuit Court judge.
“After the usual pleasantries, I think the first question he asked was whether I was a Republican or a Democrat,” Lowenthal said with a laugh. “When I told him that he couldn’t ask me that, he agreed but said that he still wanted to know.”
As the interview neared an end and Lowenthal had a growing sense that she had landed the job, Schnelz had a confession to make.
“He told me that the real reason he was hiring me was because my first name was Betty, the same as his wife’s, and that way he would never forget it.”
Such logic would soon make sense, as Lowenthal quickly gained an admiration for Schnelz’s smarts and legal skill set.
“He really had a brilliant legal mind,” Lowenthal said, noting that he was such a forward thinker that he even had planned his own funeral.
“He wanted his former law clerks to be the pallbearers,” Lowenthal related. “The reason, he explained, was that he had carried them around his whole life and it was time for them to carry him.”
Schnelz, as was his wont, was skilled at getting the last laugh, even occasionally on the equally adept Bulgarelli, his law partner for 15 years.
At the retirement roast of Schnelz in 2007, Bulgarelli took particular joy in lampooning the honoree.
“Nobody ever got hoarse talking to Gene,” Bulgarelli said in poking fun at the “loquacious nature” of his dear friend.
“Gene once told me that he loves food more than sex,” Bulgarelli continued. “I didn’t believe him until I went over to his house and saw mirrors over the dining room table.”
Others then took their turns at the microphone, alternatively giving the judge some grief and some grace for his personality traits.
By the time of his rebuttal, Judge Schnelz opted to spread some love instead.
“In the middle of a jury trial, there was a sudden tremor and the courthouse actually shook,” he recalled. “Everyone was frightened for the moment and one of the attorneys blurted out that he had never had a room shake like that.
“Noting the anxiety in the jury, I commented that, ‘Well that happens to me every time I kiss my wife.’ Everyone laughed and the moment passed. The thing that pleased me most was that I ordered a transcript of the event and gave it to Betty as a Valentine. It saved me money,” he winked.
Those plans, unfortunately, fell victim to COVID in December of 2020, just one of countless gatherings around the globe that were cancelled, postponed, or dramatically downsized because of the contagious nature of the disease.
When the beloved jurist died during that fateful year at the age of 87, his December 7 funeral service was limited to just a few family members so as not to become a super-spreader event.
“It wasn’t what any of us wanted in terms of a celebration of his life, but under the circumstances it was all that we could do,” said his son, attorney Kurt Schnelz, in the aftermath of the memorial service.
Earlier this month, Judge Schnelz received another posthumous tribute when the Oakland County Bar Association unveiled a memorial plaque in his honor at a special ceremony on Law Day. Four of his former judicial colleagues – Alice Gilbert, Richard Kuhn, Jack McDonald, and Edward Sosnick – also were in the ceremonial spotlight that day with their respective memorial plaques.
While reflecting on the meaningful ceremony, I was led back to the first time I met Judge Schnelz in the spring of 2007. The occasion was a royal retirement salute in his honor that drew hundreds of well-wishers to a reception at a country club in West Bloomfield.
It was billed as a “series of short talks EULOGIZING the Judge for his sweetness, kindness, patience, wonderful temperament . . .”
It was not his funeral. He preferred that wait awhile. When that inevitable day did arrive, however, Judge Schnelz knew that his many friends and admirers would be poised for action.
“Harold Bulgarelli, a longtime friend and a retired district court judge, once told me that he was working on my eulogy and it was up to 40 pages,” Schnelz recalled at the time. “Years later when I asked him how it was coming, he said it was now down to a moment of silence.”
Such humor, whether he was on the giving or receiving end, was a Schnelz trademark. Betty Lowenthal, a longtime Friend of the Court referee in Oakland County, could attest to that fact. She got her first taste while interviewing for a clerkship opening with the newly-minted Circuit Court judge.
“After the usual pleasantries, I think the first question he asked was whether I was a Republican or a Democrat,” Lowenthal said with a laugh. “When I told him that he couldn’t ask me that, he agreed but said that he still wanted to know.”
As the interview neared an end and Lowenthal had a growing sense that she had landed the job, Schnelz had a confession to make.
“He told me that the real reason he was hiring me was because my first name was Betty, the same as his wife’s, and that way he would never forget it.”
Such logic would soon make sense, as Lowenthal quickly gained an admiration for Schnelz’s smarts and legal skill set.
“He really had a brilliant legal mind,” Lowenthal said, noting that he was such a forward thinker that he even had planned his own funeral.
“He wanted his former law clerks to be the pallbearers,” Lowenthal related. “The reason, he explained, was that he had carried them around his whole life and it was time for them to carry him.”
Schnelz, as was his wont, was skilled at getting the last laugh, even occasionally on the equally adept Bulgarelli, his law partner for 15 years.
At the retirement roast of Schnelz in 2007, Bulgarelli took particular joy in lampooning the honoree.
“Nobody ever got hoarse talking to Gene,” Bulgarelli said in poking fun at the “loquacious nature” of his dear friend.
“Gene once told me that he loves food more than sex,” Bulgarelli continued. “I didn’t believe him until I went over to his house and saw mirrors over the dining room table.”
Others then took their turns at the microphone, alternatively giving the judge some grief and some grace for his personality traits.
By the time of his rebuttal, Judge Schnelz opted to spread some love instead.
“In the middle of a jury trial, there was a sudden tremor and the courthouse actually shook,” he recalled. “Everyone was frightened for the moment and one of the attorneys blurted out that he had never had a room shake like that.
“Noting the anxiety in the jury, I commented that, ‘Well that happens to me every time I kiss my wife.’ Everyone laughed and the moment passed. The thing that pleased me most was that I ordered a transcript of the event and gave it to Betty as a Valentine. It saved me money,” he winked.
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