VLS Mourns The Honorable Joseph T. Doyle '58
It is with great sadness that we share with you the passing of
The Honorable Joseph T. Doyle '58, of West Chester, Pennsylvania. Judge Doyle, known to his friends as “Ted,” passed away on Tuesday, December 18, 2012 of cancer at his home at the age of 81.
Judge Doyle graduated from St. James High School in Chester, PA, La Salle College, and Villanova Law School in 1958. He earned his Master of Law in 1990 from the University of Virginia and an honorary law degree from Widener University in 2001.
Prior to attending Villanova Law School, Judge Doyle served on active duty in the Army for two years and was honorably discharged in 1955 after service in Germany. Following graduation from law school, Judge Doyle began practicing law with classmate,
John Currie ’58 in 1961 with the firm Trevaskis, Doyle & Currie in Delaware County, PA. Thereafter in 1970, Judge Doyle was elected to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives and re-elected in 1972, 1974 and 1976. While a member of the House, he served as Vice-Chairman of the Law and Justice Committee.
Judge Doyle was elected to the Commonwealth Court in November 1981, taking office on Jan. 4, 1982. He was retained for a second 10-year term in November 1991 and was elected President Judge in 1999. He retired from the bench after 21 years, in 2002.
From 2009 until the time of his death, Judge Doyle was of counsel with the Media-based firm Vincent B. Mancini & Associates. "He had a great personality; he was very charming and funny. He had all the character traits of a well-rounded human being and a professional. That's very rare," said law partner and longtime friend, Vincent B. Mancini. In person, Mancini said, Judge Doyle was affable and modest.
Judge Doyle is survived by his daughters, Louise Hyland, Meghan Braun, Kimberly Murphy and Rebecca Bennett, and 10 grandchildren. His wife of 51 years, Elizabeth Kavanaugh, passed away in 2007.
A Funeral Mass was celebrated on December 21, 2012 at 11:00 a.m. at SS. Peter and Paul Church, 1325 Boot Rd., West Chester, PA with interment in Calvary Cemetery.
Judge Doyle will be honored, post humously, by the Villanova Law Alumni Association (VLAA) with the VLAA Award for Public Service at the 2013 Annual Alumni Reception Awards Program on March 21, 2013 at the National Constitution Center.
For more information, please contact the Office of Alumni Relations at 610-519-7054 or
alumni@law.villanova.edu. Click
here to register by March 18.
