DETROIT (8/20/2017) -- It is with great sadness to announce that former University of Detroit basketball standout and Titan Hall Of Famer judge John Kirwan '51 passed away on Thursday, Aug. 17.
 
The honorable judge was 89 years old.
 
Kirwan played four years on the hardwood for the Titans and helped U-D post its first-ever 20-win season as a junior 1949-50 at 20-6. He scored 965 total points in his career, a school record when he graduated. He earned All-Catholic and All-American accolades as a junior and senior after tallying 10.4 and 12.5 points, respectively. He was also All-Missouri Valley as a senior and had his great scoring effort in his final collegiate campaign on Feb. 14, 1951, when he poured in a career-high 31 points in a 93-73 victory.

He was inducted into the Titan Hall of Fame in 1981. 
 
Kirwan was born in Detroit on Sept. 15, 1927, and would go on to graduate from the University of Detroit Jesuit High School, the University of Detroit and UD Law School.
 
After graduating from high school in 1945, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy during World War II.
 
He began his career as a legal adviser for the Wayne County Sherriff's Department. In 1965, he was elected to Detroit traffic court and later appointed to the Recorder's Court Criminal Division. In 1972, he was elected to Wayne County Circuit Court from which he retired in 1998 after more than 40 years of public service.
 
Kirwan is survived by his wife of 54 years, Helen; daughters Mary Helyn, Kathleen and Colleen; five grandchildren; many nieces and nephews; and his brother, Joseph. He was preceded in death by his sister, Elizabeth Jean Pinkelman.
 
Visitation will be from 2-9 p.m, on Tuesday, Aug. 21, at the O'Brien-Sullivan Funeral Home in Novi, with a rosary service set for 7 p.m.
 
He will lie in state at Our Lady of Victory Church in Northville at 10 a.m., on Wednesday, Aug. 22, with a funeral mass at 10:30 a.m.
 
Interment will be at Rural Hill Cemetery in Northville.
 
Memorial donations can be made to U of D Jesuit High School or the Capuchin Soup Kitchen in Detroit.  

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