Justice Clarence George Yanosik
Justice Clarence Yanosik, of the Court of Queen’s Bench of Alberta passed away on January 10, 2015 at age 88.
A true “citizen” of Lethbridge in the fullest sense of the word, Justice Yanosik was born in Lethbridge on April 20, 1926, and from his birth, through his practice, his appointment to the Bench, and during his retirement, he remained a resident of Lethbridge until the date of his death.
As a young man, Justice Yanosik attended school in Lethbridge, but dropped out in Grade 11 to serve in the Royal Canadian Naval Reserves during the Second World War – serving aboard the minesweeper Grandmere and the frigate Springhill.
After the war ended, he completed high school in Lethbridge and then pursued his post-secondary education, receiving his law degree from the University of British Columbia in 1952. Following his graduation he returned to Lethbridge, where he practiced law and eventually became a law partner with a firm comprising two other later Judges of the Superior Courts – Justice L.D. Maclean and Justice Hubert S. Prowse - at the firm of Rice, Prowse, MacLean and Yanosik.
Justice Yanosik was a devoted member of the Liberal Party of Canada during his lifetime, which was no mean feat in Southern Alberta, and actually ran for Parliament as a Liberal candidate in 1958, losing that election to the Progressive Conservative Candidate.
In 1969, Justice Yanosik was appointed to the District Court of Alberta, which court was later amalgamated with the Court of Queen’s Bench, and Justice Yanosik remained a sitting Justice of the Court of Queen’s Bench until his retirement in 2001.
Justice Yanosik was an excellent athlete in his younger years, excelling at baseball and later becoming a principalarchitect in supporting and building baseball in Southern Alberta, being inducted into the Lethbridge Sports Hall of Fame in May of 2007 as an athlete and builder.
Justice Yanosik was predeceased by his wife, Cecily, and left four children to survive him at the time of his passing, Robert, Larry, Laurie and Tim.
He most certainly will be missed, not only by his family, but also by the Lethbridge Bar and by the whole of the Lethbridge community to whom he gave so much of himself throughout his lifetime.