Firm News, Women's Initiative, Community

Honorable Eugene (Gene) B. Strassburger, III

May 19, 2021

The SMGG Law family expresses its deepest condolences to the entire Strassburger family at the loss of the Honorable Eugene (Gene) B. Strassburger, III, brother of E. J. Strassburger, father of David Strassburger and uncle of Jordan Strassburger.  SMGG is proud that Judge Strassburger, a titan of the Pennsylvania legal community for over 50 years, worked at the Firm early in his career during the early 1970’s.  Judge Strassburger’s tenure at the Firm was relatively short. However, his legacy will last forever because his work ethic, legal acumen and impeccable ethical reputation challenge each of us at SMGG on a daily basis. You can view Judge Strassburger’s obituary outlining a few of his many personal and professional accomplishments below.  Good-bye to our brother, father, uncle, colleague, friend and role model. You are dearly missed.

Eugene (Gene) B. Strassburger, III, passed away on May 17, 2021 at home in Oakland, surrounded by family. He is survived by his beloved wife Phyllis Kitzerow, brother E.J. (Mona), sister Lanie, children David (Meredith), Ellen, and Zach (Kate), and grandchildren Scott, Julia, Maya, Sammy, and brand new grandbaby Elior. A funeral service will be performed at Rodef Shalom Congregation on Friday, May 21st at 1:30 P.M., with visitation beginning at noon.

Gene was born November 28, 1943, to Jane and Eugene Strassburger, Jr. He graduated from Linden Elementary, Shady Side Academy, Yale University (’64) and Harvard Law School (’67). He clerked for the Honorable Henry O’Brien on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.

Many will remember Gene for his meaningful and lengthy legal career. He served as a senior judge on Pennsylvania’s Superior Court for the last ten years. Before that he served on the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas since 1978 in the Family Court and the Civil Court, including as Administrative Judge and Calendar Control Judge. He was proud to call himself a feminist, and he devoted many hours to the Allegheny County Bar Association’s Women in the Law Division and the LGBT Committee. He had also served on the Board of Directors of both PERSAD and the Women’s Center and Shelter of Pittsburgh, served as an advisor to the American Law Institute’s Project on the Law of Family Dissolution, and helped start the Court Appointed Special Advocates program in Allegheny County.

At 29, he was one of the youngest attorneys to argue a case in front of the U.S. Supreme Court. In Pittsburgh Press v. Pittsburgh Commission on Human Relations, he argued –and won–that gender-segregated want ads discriminate on the basis of sex. He also taught courses at the University of Pittsburgh Law School and Duquesne Law School and represented the City of Pittsburgh in important zoning and milk pricing cases.

Family and friends will remember Gene for his terrible jokes (“How many lawyers does it take to get an ounce of brains?”), softball games with the Fertile Octogenarians, managing multiple fantasy sports teams, and his love of 1950s doowop. We will also remember his penchant for correct grammar, his dedication to teaching his children to play softball and golf, and his eagerness to solve whatever problems his loved ones might face. We will miss him deeply.

In lieu of flowers, please send memorial donations to the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank.