Alexander Endy, judge in Chesco

Alexander Endy, 85, who served as a Chester County Orphans Court and Family Court judge from 1984 to 2002, died July 30 at Paoli Hospital of complications from two strokes. He lived in West Chester.

He was the city solicitor of Coatesville for 16 years.

Mr. Endy spent 13 years working with his father's retail floor-covering business in Coatesville before he was awarded a scholarship to the law school of the University of Pennsylvania, where, his family said, he was 16 years older than most of his classmates. He graduated in 1962.

A 1940 graduate of Coatesville High School, he won the Chester County American Legion Americanism essay contest that year and a scholarship to the University of Pittsburgh. He graduated with honors in 1943.

He served in the Army during World War II and, after being wounded in action in Normandy, he was reassigned to the Allies' information and education staff schools in Paris and in Oberammergau, Bavaria.

Mr. Endy was a staff lawyer in the federal Public Housing Administration before entering private practice.

Appointed to the county court in 1984, he was elected in 1985, became a senior judge in 1992, and, after his retirement, joined the King of Prussia law firm of his daughter, Daryl Klein.

While in private practice, he was a member of Coatesville City Council and of the city's planning commission and was vice chairman of the city's first home-rule charter commission.

He was solicitor for the Borough of Kennett Square, for the zoning board of Parkesburg, and for the Water Authority in Coatesville.

He was a director of the county bar association and of Legal Aid of Chester County.

Mr. Endy was twice the president of Beth Israel Congregation, most recently for six years during the planning and construction of its synagogue in Upper Uwchlan. He taught in its religious school for 15 years.

He was chairman of the board of trustees of the Carl O. Benner Fund, which provided loans and scholarships to graduates of Coatesville Area Senior High School.

In 1990, he was inducted into Coatesville's hall of fame.

He was a Mason for 50 years and a member of the Coatesville Rotary Club for 25 years, serving as president in 1983-84. He was a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars and a life member of the Military Order of the Purple Heart.

Besides his daughter, Mr. Endy is survived by his wife of 60 years, Pauline; sons Eric and Michael; a sister; three grandchildren; and several nieces and nephews.

The funeral was Aug. 1, with burial in Beth Israel Cemetery, Coatesville.