EDMOND — In the 14th Century a group of Tartars were given allotments of land in the Kingdom of Poland as a reward for their military service to the Kingdom. Those Tartars were Muslim horsemen who had been part of the Mongol horde, but over time their descendants were gradually assimilated in the life and culture of Poland. And one of them, Marian Opala, currently serves as a Justice of the Oklahoma Supreme Court.
Opala was born in Lodz, Poland, in 1921, and his father was a prosperous banker. Opala speaks fondly of his comfortable middle class youth in pre-war Poland, where he developed a fluency in French, German and English. But that way of life was irrevocably shattered in 1939 as the Second World War began when Germany invaded his homeland. After Poland was defeated, Opala managed to make his way to Istanbul, Turkey — which was a neutral nation — where he was able to enlist in the British Army.
In 1944 he was airdropped into Poland by the British to support an armed uprising against the Nazis and was captured by the German Army. As a prisoner of war Opala was transferred to a camp in Germany that was subsequently liberated by American forces. Opala recalls how a friendship he developed with an American Captain from Oklahoma, Clyde Gene Warr, who oversaw the liberation of his camp would change his life. As a result of the agreement reached at Yalta before the end of the war, Poland was consigned to the Russian sphere of influence, and in 1945 it was being transformed into a communist state.
Opala sadly confided to his new American friend Capt. Warr that he could not return to Poland, and he would probably relocate to somewhere in the British Commonwealth. Warr suggested he come to Oklahoma to begin a new life and that he would assist him in that effort. After much soul searching, Opala decided to take Warr up on his offer.
After arriving in Oklahoma City in 1947, Opala attended Oklahoma City University School of Law and graduated in 1953. He later returned to OCU and received a degree in economics in 1957. And he subsequently journeyed to New York City to attend New York University School of Law and was awarded a Master’s of Law from that institution in 1968.
Opala began his legal career as an assistant county attorney in Oklahoma County and held that position until 1956 when he began a private law practice, with a concentration on insurance law. After four years as a private attorney, Opala began his career in public service as a referee for the Oklahoma Supreme Court in 1960, a position he would hold until 1965, when he became the staff attorney for Supreme Court Justice Rooney McInerney. During that time, it became apparent to the Supreme Court and many district court judges that Oklahoma needed an office to coordinate the actions and operations of the courts, and the position of court administrator was created in 1968. Opala was urged by Justice McInerney and the Chairman of the State Senate Judiciary Committee, Sen. Grantham, to apply for that position, and he was appointed to it by the Supreme Court in 1968.
In 1977 he was appointed to the Oklahoma Workers Compensation Court, and in the following year Gov. David Boren appointed him to fill a vacancy on the State Supreme Court that was created when the Justice who represented District 3, which includes Oklahoma City, retired. He served as Chief Justice of the Court for two years in the early 1990s. Opala reports he has greatly enjoyed his tenure on the court, and speaks with affection and admiration about the other justices he has served with. His thorough and incisive legal decisions have been read by a generation of Oklahoma lawyers and law students and are increasingly finding their way into the books that are part of the texts used by law schools.
And Marian Opala believes that it has been a privilege and an honor to spend 40 years serving the people of the state that gave him a new life in a free country.
Opinion
Opala celebrates 40 years in state
- Opinion
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OUR VIEW: Feb. 14 vote about ideas
If you read any of the letters to the editor in the past two weeks regarding Tuesday’s District 2 Edmond school board race, then you already know that this election is not about the individual candidates so much as it’s about what type of school board do Edmond residents really want governing their school district?
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What are your presidential 10 Commandments?
As we brace for the upcoming presidential campaign, we should be honest about our responsibility in the process. Before we get pushed, pulled, bribed, frightened, bullied, flattered, fooled or charmed into voting for a candidate, let’s take a mature thoughtful look at what the profile of the president should look like. In order to do that, let’s do an exercise. Sit down with a pencil and paper and draft your proposal for the Ten Commandments to be obeyed by the president. Let me share some of my suggestions.
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What would Reagan do today in Oklahoma?
As we celebrated the 101st anniversary of Ronald Reagan’s birth on Feb. 6, several of us at Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs started discussing what Reagan might do today. Here are some of the ideas we came up with.
- LETTER: School counselor says Roy ready to help all students
- LETTER: Supporter calls Duncan 'a firecracker'
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Consequences of an overregulated nation
Overreaching government regulations are costing jobs and killing our economy. They are a heavy burden on our nation and its citizens — in some cases worse than our nation’s increasingly out-of-control debt.
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LETTER: Supporter: Duncan shows passion for children’s needs
To the Editor:
The families in the Edmond Public School District are fortunate to have Kathleen Duncan as their advocate on the Edmond Board of Education. Duncan has worked tirelessly for the welfare and benefit of the Edmond schools’ students. -
LETTER: Teacher supports Duncan’s re-election
To the Editor:
On Feb. 14 patrons of District 2 have an opportunity to re-elect the current president of the Edmond School Board, Kathleen Duncan. Duncan has served as a board member for 10 years. When people move to the Oklahoma City area, they buy a home here because of the exceptional quality of Edmond Public Schools. This speaks to Duncan’s goal of “Excellence in Education for All Edmond Public School Students.” -
LETTER: Supporter: Duncan understands diverse issues
To the Editor:
Kathleen Duncan understands the diverse issues that effect our schools. She carefully studies the district’s issues and works tirelessly as an advocate for all students. Her votes as a board member have an impact for years to come and she takes that responsibility very seriously. - LETTER: Reader says incumbent's personal agenda in the way
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OUR VIEW: Feb. 14 vote about ideas
