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Judge Linda Teodosio to receive St. Thomas More Award
SHERRY KARABIN
Legal News Reporter
Published: April 25, 2014
Judge Linda Tucci Teodosio believes it’s not enough to talk a good game if the person giving advice does not follow the same rules.
“My faith has always been important to me,” said Judge Teodosio, who serves on the Summit County Juvenile Court bench and will join local legal legends in receiving the St. Thomas More Award next Friday.
“I have always made it a point to not only go to church but to carry out the teachings in my daily life, serving the community by participating in activities that help individuals.”
In fact, since making her way to The University of Akron in 1976, the Canton native served as a member or volunteer for over 50 civic and professional organizations, boards and committees, including being president of the Akron Bar Association in 2008, president of the Board of Governors for the Akron Bar Foundation, president of The University of Akron School of Law Alumni Association and a member of the Criminal Justice Advisory Board and the county’s Alcohol, Drug Addiction and Mental Health Services Board.
“Her energy level is amazing,” said retired Dean's Club Professor of Law J. Dean Carro, Teodosio’s professor at The University of Akron School of Law. “Judge Teodosio never expected anything to be given to her without putting in maximum effort,” said Carro who retired in 2013.
“She came from a blue collar working class family that instilled in her a strong work ethic and she always wanted to learn and be criticized so that she could turn weaknesses into strengths,” said Carro, now of counsel at Baker, Dublikar, Beck, Wiley & Mathews in North Canton.
Judge Teodosio also devoted time to the legal clinic, which Carro ran. While law school gave her the tools to embark on her career, it’s also where she met her husband, Tom, who shared the same commitment to faith and the community that she did.
“Linda and I have been parishioners at Holy Family in Stow since we were married,” said Judge Tom Teodosio, who has served on the Summit County Court of Common Pleas bench since 2007. “We were active in the church and the school,” he said. “We served as ushers; Linda was a Eucharistic minister and I coached a number of athletic teams.”
Judge Teodosio has also been a board member and president of CYO and Community Services and is currently president of the First Friday Club of Greater Akron.
Her devotion to her faith and community is matched by the attention she has given to her profession. Teodosio began her legal career at Nukes and Perantinides, later going into private solo practice after the birth of her children, Christopher and Andrea.
“She was always well prepared and her clients came first,” said retired Summit County Common Pleas Judge Jane Bond, who first met Teodosio when she was an attorney.
“With Linda you were assured the job would get done. She has an unusual combination of exceptional ability and genuine humility. She conducts herself with professionalism and sincerity,” said Bond, now a Metro Parks commissioner.
In 1990, Teodosio began working as a magistrate in Akron Municipal Court, shortly after completing a brief stint as a staff attorney for the 9th District Court of Appeals. In 1997, she was elected judge in the Cuyahoga Falls Municipal Court and has held her spot in the juvenile division of the Summit County Court of Common Pleas since 2003.
“As a judge she has shown great compassion and creativity in reaching out to young people to solve problems. She does not throw children away,” said Bond.
Her concept of integrating mental health issues and the treatment of substance abuse to help the youth who have come before her has gained national attention. She developed numerous programs around the idea including “Crossroads Probation,” designed for young people with mental health disorders and/or substance dependence, New Paths, which helps those with a developmental disability and the Offender Specific Unit that specializes in dealing with youth charged with sex offenses.
In 2006 Teodosio created the Family Resource Center to help families dealing with issues ranging from school attendance problems to violence and conflicts at home. Services include case management assistance, referrals to community agencies and resources like tutoring and school-to-work programs, along with providing home and school visits to assess how best to improve a given situation.
One of the key components of the FRC is the Responder Program, which began in the fall of 2010 and puts a trained professional in middle and elementary schools to screen for potential psychological problems that might be contributing to unruly behavior or truancy.
That’s not all. Teodosio has also implemented the Special Community Service Project, Teen Court, reading and tutoring programs, a firearm education program, Project: Greenhouse Effect where juveniles in detention and on probation are taught methods of gardening and landscaping, and a reentry program for those returning to the community from the Ohio Department of Youth Services.
Her work has earned her too many awards to mention, including one from the U.S. Department of Justice, and she’s been named one of the most influential women in northeast Ohio by Northern Ohio Live magazine.
“It has been a labor of love for me to help improve the lives of children and their families,” said Teodosio, now 57. “There is a lot more to be done.”
While helping others has been a major part of her life that doesn’t mean her family has taken a back seat.
“Linda is the hardest working person I have ever known,” said her husband, Tom. “Yet she balances long hours at work with her family life. She has been a wonderful mother to our children who both grew into responsible respected adults because of her mentorship.”
“She was a great mom,” said Christopher Teodosio, now an associate at Akron firm Brouse McDowell. “No matter how much she gave to the community and her job she never let it affect us. My mom was at every sporting event and if any issue ever came up with either me or my sister she was always there.”
A Munroe Falls resident, Judge Teodosio said Christopher and his sister Andrea attended Holy Family and Walsh Jesuit High School in Cuyahoga Falls.
“We always went to mass every Sunday and prayed before meals,” said Judge Teodosio.
But the biggest test would come when she lost her daughter in a skiing accident on Feb. 12, 2011.
“She was a rock,” recalled Jack DeLeo, a 20-year neighbor and close friend of the Teodosio family. “She kept it all together and turned grief into something positive.”
“My mom helped my dad, myself and my grandparents on both sides to get through it,” said Christopher.
The end result was the creation of the Andrea Rose Teodosio Foundation, which she said was designed to carry out many of the good deeds her daughter would have had she survived.
Among other things the foundation provides slightly worn prom and homecoming dresses to girls in need as well as delivering gardens to senior-focused organizations.
“I am a mother of two daughters and I don’t know if I would have the strength to do what she did in the face of such a loss,” said Bond.
“After Andrea passed away, running was one of my mom’s coping mechanisms,” said Christopher, adding his mother ran her first marathon at 54.
Judge Teodosio follows the 2013 winner Orville L. Reed III, Ann Amer Brennan, the late Ohio Court of Appeals Judge Oscar Hunsicker, District Court Judge Sam Bell, and the namesakes of some of Akron’s well-known law firms like Lisle M. Buckingham, Charles Scanlon, Richard Cunningham and Thomas Knoll.
Given in honor of the patron saint of lawyers, the award is presented annually by the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland as part of the Akron Bar Association’s Law Week celebration.
“I think that she is a perfect choice for the St. Thomas More award since she lives by the same professional ethics and religious dedication that he did,” said Carro.
“Her commitment to the community and the bar has been unparalleled,” said Maryanne Palik, public relations director at the Akron Bar Association. “The award was established in 1978 and she has been a coordinator of Red Mass and the Law Week committee for years.”
Teodosio will receive the award from Bishop Richard Lennon in conjunction with the annual Red Mass at St. Bernard Catholic Church in Akron at noon. A reception sponsored by the Akron Bar’s past presidents will follow in the church social hall.
“I can hardly believe I’ve been chosen,” said Teodosio. “It’s a great honor and very humbling.”