“We avoided red, pink or maroon,” Okudzeto said.

”I remember a friend wore a red shirt one day because he forgot we had crime law that day, so he had to borrow a friend’s hoodie to wear over his shirt.”

But one day, during the fall of 2010, the law class decided it was time for payback. When Apol entered the room that day, he was met with a sea of students, all wearing the color red.

“We (also) made a T-shirt (that) had a bald-headed guy on it, and it said, ‘Professor Apol is my homeboy,’” Okudzeto said. “Oh, he loved it. We gave him one of the shirts.”

Okudzeto recalled just one of the many memories keeping the legacy of his professor alive. Apol, who was 71, lost a battle to cancer and died July 1 at McLaren Northern Michigan hospital.

Apol is survived by wife, Carol, who could not be reached for comment, his daughters, Heidi and Andrea Apol, his brother, Alan Apol, and his mother, Kathryn Greene.

According to a release from the College of Law, Apol joined the U.S. Navy at age 16 and worked as a communications specialist for eight years. He earned a degree in political philosophy from Grand Valley State College in 1969 and a juris doctorate from the University of Michigan Law School in 1972.

After graduating from law school, Apol worked for Charles W. Joiner as a clerk in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. Soon after, he found his love for the field of criminal law and was recruited to teach the expanding Research, Writing, and Advocacy Program at the MSU College of Law, which was known at that time as the Detroit College of Law. After two years of working as an adjunct legal research instructor, he was accepted as a full-time faculty member in 1978.

Many students recall his ability to transform even the toughest of subjects into something they could remember, said law student Samantha Lindberg, who had Apol as a professor in 2010.

“When we were learning the elements of crime, he made us chant them out loud in class,” Lindberg said. “People use that when they’re taking the bar exam — chanting it to themselves in their head.”
Lindberg said she will never forget Apol because he was a one-of-a-kind professor with a big legacy.

Apol taught for 35 years, and during this time, he taught a Michigan Supreme Court justice, many current MSU law trustees, a federal judge and several state judges.

College of Law Dean Joan Howarth said students, staff and faculty will undoubtedly miss such a strong and influential presence in the law community.

“Many students and graduates have told me that professor Apol was their favorite,” Howarth said. “I’ve heard countless Jack Apol stories, and they all emphasize his big heart, his big personality and his complete dedication to his students’ success, whatever it took.”

Detroit federal public defender Stacey Studnicki, a former student of Apol’s, said the pair wrote more than a dozen articles together on criminal law.

“He was wonderful to work with — an absolutely wonderful co-author,” she said.
“I just can’t say enough good about him.”

Okudzeto, treasurer of the Black Law Students Association, or BLSA, said members described Apol as extremely supportive of the group.

Apol’s memorial service will be held this Wednesday at Winchester Funeral Home
in Charlevoix.