John Rybak, RIP

John in 2012

Prominent Southside Bethlehem Attorney John W. Rybak has passed away after a lengthy illness. A lawyer's lawyer, his uncle was a law partner with my dad. His father, a former State Representative, was an attorney. His brother Tony is a lawyer. And so is his wife, Assistant District Attorney Pat Broscius. Together, they have three children.

A graduate of Penn State and University of Mississippi School of Law, Rybak maintained his practice in South Bethlehem since 1983. I could recite his accomplishments, but let me instead leave you the words of love his brother Tony posted on his Facebook page.

To all of you who have sent your thoughts and prayers to my family and I, to everyone who has posted fond memories of my brother, to those of you who were able to take the time to see John in his final days as he continued to fight like hell, exactly the way my father taught him to fight, no matter the odds, and to all of you who knew and were touched in this world by my brother, John William Rybak, thank you from the bottom of my heart. He was and is a true Lion, in every sense of the word- including Nittany- and it is doubtful that a giant such as he will be seen again anytime soon.

If you want to honor his memory, feel free to fight the good fight, help your fellow man every time you are called upon to do so, and put everyone before yourself all the time. Then eat a hot dog, look up to heaven, and thank John for being an excellent example of what living a good and honorable life should look like.

I can never thank you enough, John. I love you. Please be at peace.

Judge Emil Giordano was saddened by the news.

"John Rybak was a great lawyer. He was always prepared. He was always honest and he always fought the good fight. I will miss him dearly. He represented a lot of children in the dependency matters. He displayed very much common sense."

Updated 6:45 pm