As a student at the College of Steubenville in the 1970s, Judge Joseph Corabi was thinking more about working at the steel mill near campus than going to law school.
Knowing all his buddies at the mill were making $25,000 a year—then an attractive salary—he intended to do little more than pass his classes and get a job at the mill after graduation. His father, an attorney, had other plans for him, though, and they involved following him into the legal profession.
Even when Joseph didn’t make the cut for admission to law school at Ohio Northern University, his father arranged for a friend, Judge Richard Powell, to take him to meet the dean, who invited him to enroll in a summer program.
“If you can make two B’s or better,” the dean told him, “I will guarantee your admission in the fall.”
He made the two B’s but continued to resist the idea of going to law school in the fall. Joseph’s father prevailed, and today, his son says, “I’m just lucky I had a father 100 times smarter than I was.”
After graduating from law school in 1977, Joseph returned to his native Steubenville and practiced law. He also taught business law at the College of Steubenville and served as special counsel for the city of Steubenville, solicitor for various townships and villages in the area, and assistant prosecuting attorney for Jefferson County.
In 1990, he became county court judge in Toronto, serving five terms until 2014 when he was elected Jefferson County juvenile and probate judge.
Upon his retirement in 2021, he says that without his late wife, Kathy (McMenamin ’76), he never would have been able to do what he did. He met her in high school, and together they had three children.
In his retirement, besides spending time with his five grandchildren, Joseph has served as a magistrate in the juvenile and probate court and inhouse counsel for Cedar One Rentals.
He credits Franciscan with giving him the education and background that made it possible for him to go to law school. As an undergraduate, he majored in accounting, which he says was helpful in law school.
“I have been very blessed and very fortunate,” he says. “I think every experience you have in life shapes you and molds you to where you are today in your life. To that extent, the College of Steubenville has played an important and vital role in shaping the person I’ve become. And if I walked out right now and got struck by a lightning bolt, I’ve had the best life.”
Judge Joseph Corabi received the 2025 Rose M. DeFede ’60 Faithful Franciscan Award for his long-time support of Franciscan in the local community as an advocate, advisor, and collaborator on many projects.
