John A. Krause, 55, of St. Charles, retired chief judge of the 16th Circuit Court, served 25 years as a judge and two terms as chief judge before he retired and moved March 1 to the San Diego area. He returned to the western suburbs four weeks later, however.
Services for Judge Krause were held Saturday in St. Mark`s Episcopal Church in Geneva. He died as a result of a bullet wound to the head April 2 in a parking lot near Yorkville in Kendall County. Kendall County Medical Examiner William Dunne said an autopsy was performed and an inquest will be held. A handgun and a note to Judge Krause`s family were found in the car, Dunne said.
”He had superior ability as a judge,” Aurora attorney Oliver DeBartolo said. ”He had tremendous talent as an administrator. He was very good. He was a good judge. That was the long and short of it.”
Judge Krause and his family returned to Aurora a week before his death and moved to an apartment in a building he owned there. He had become counsel to a firm in Geneva and intended to practice law there.
Survivors include his wife, Lydia; two sons, Karl and John Michael; a daughter, Nancy Juszczyk; and a brother, David.
