{"id":74103,"date":"2026-07-29T00:00:42","date_gmt":"2026-07-29T05:00:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mitchellhamline.edu\/news\/?p=74103"},"modified":"2026-07-31T12:58:51","modified_gmt":"2026-07-31T17:58:51","slug":"losing-a-legend-former-justice-esther-m-tomljanovich-55-dies-at-age-94","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mitchellhamline.edu\/news\/2026\/07\/29\/losing-a-legend-former-justice-esther-m-tomljanovich-55-dies-at-age-94\/","title":{"rendered":"Losing a legend: Former Justice Esther M. Tomljanovich \u201955 dies at age 94"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Justice

Justice Esther M. Tomljanovich ’55<\/p><\/div>\n

Mitchell Hamline mourns the loss of the trailblazer and inspirational leader, former Justice Esther M. Tomljanovich \u201955, who passed away on July 26 at the age of 94. Tomljanovich\u2014or \u201cJustice T\u201d as she was lovingly known by the Mitchell Hamline community\u2014spent her life serving in the law, advancing the cause of women\u2019s rights, and inspiring others with true dedication and care.<\/p>\n

\u201cJustice Esther Tomljanovich was truly one of a kind. She didn\u2019t just break barriers\u2014she held the door open for others. She believed deeply in creating opportunities for those who came behind her, and her impact will continue to be felt for generations,\u201d said President and Dean Camille Davidson.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I first arrived at Mitchell Hamline, I had the privilege of spending time with Esther and her husband, Bill,\u201d Dean Davidson continued. \u201cI will always remember their warmth, kindness, and unwavering commitment to this law school and its students. We are profoundly grateful for Justice T\u2019s life, her leadership, and the legacy she leaves behind.\u201d<\/p>\n

Esther Jeanne Moellering was born in Iowa and raised in Minnesota\u2019s Iron Range. At age 19, she moved to St. Paul and rented a room at the YWCA so she could attend law school, which was then St. Paul College of Law. She was the only woman in her class, and among its top three graduates.<\/p>\n

After law school, she married her law school classmate, the late William \u201cBill\u201d Tomljanovich \u201955, in 1957. She became assistant revisor of statutes, a position she served in until their son Bill was born in 1966. While raising their son, she remained active in the legal field by drafting bills for lobbyists and working part time for West Publishing and Minnesota Continuing Legal Education.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Tomljanovich is named the second woman district court judge in Minnesota history, 1977<\/p><\/div>\n

When she returned to the field full time, she worked with the Minnesota County Attorney\u2019s Association, where she helped write the first set of Minnesota Rules of Criminal Procedure. Later, she was appointed as the first woman revisor of statutes, the second woman district court judge in the state, and the third woman appointed to the Minnesota Supreme Court, where she served as an associate justice from 1990 to 1998.<\/p>\n

Justice T was an advocate of women\u2019s rights and a trailblazer for women throughout her life. She was one of the founding mothers of Minnesota Women Lawyers, a group that supports and mentors other women within the legal field.<\/p>\n

She also helped form the Committee on the Status of Women, whose work continued as a national Council on the Status of Women, that respectively passed a bill for \u201cequal pay for equal work\u201d for women and was significant in making women a protected class under the Minnesota Human Rights Act.<\/p>\n

Justice T left a profound impact on many individual women she mentored, supported, and inspired. One of those women was Judge Richelle Wahi \u201903, who serves as a district court judge in Minnesota\u2019s First Judicial District and was previously one of Justice T\u2019s law clerks.<\/p>\n

\u201cJustice Tomljanovich changed the course of my life with a simple invitation to coffee in 1999, when I was a first-year law student and a first-generation American who knew no one in the legal profession,\u201d said Judge Wahi.<\/p>\n

\u201cOver the next 27 years, she became far more than a mentor\u2014she became a cherished friend, trusted confidant, and the person whose faith in me made it possible for me to believe in myself. I stood on her shoulders as she generously shared her wisdom, opened doors I never knew existed, and paved the path that led me to serve as a district court judge.\u201d<\/p>\n

Beyond her impact on the legal community, Justice T was an invaluable servant dedicated to advancing the mission of Mitchell Hamline. She served on the Board of Trustees from 1994 and 2003 and made generous philanthropic contributions to support student scholarships and academic programs. She and her late husband even established a scholarship fund in her name, the Justice Esther Tomljanovich \u201955 Scholarship.<\/p>\n

Justice T was also named as one of the \u201c100 Who Made a Difference\u201d publication produced in 2000 in honor of 100 years of the law school, and she received the Honorable Warren E. Burger Distinguished Alumni Award in 2002.<\/p>\n

\"Justice

Justice Tomljanovich (in purple hat) with alumnae at the Justice Esther M. Tomljanovich Celebration of Women in Law Tea, 2024<\/p><\/div>\n

Another of the most enduring parts of her legacy at Mitchell Hamline is the annual spring event that she established more than 25 years ago: the Justice Esther M. Tomljanovich Celebration of Women in Law Tea, which honors the struggles and accomplishments of women in the legal profession. At the event, alumni and students gather to network with old and new friends\u2014all while wearing fancy hats and sipping tea, inspired by Justice T\u2019s experience with the Phi Delta Delta Legal Fraternity while she was a young lawyer.<\/p>\n

Senior Judge Jill Flaskamp Halbrooks \u201985, who served as part of the Tea\u2019s planning committee in 2026, said this of her colleague and dear friend: \u201cEsther Tomljanovich was a pillar in the legal community and a great inspiration to me and countless others. She had many exceptional qualities, but one that I most admired was her ability to view complex legal issues through a lens that combined a keen intellect with fundamental common sense. Regardless of the professional heights Justice Tomljanovich reached, she remained her unpretentious, authentic, wonderful self\u2014always. She will be sorely missed.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"

Justice Tomljanovich (in pink hat) with alumnae at the Justice Esther M. Tomljanovich Celebration of Women in Law Tea, 2026<\/p><\/div>\n

Justice T will be lovingly remembered by her son, Bill, and grandsons, Tony and Justin, as well as an expansive network of those who were mentored, inspired, and impacted by her life and legacy.<\/p>\n

\u201cThough small in stature, she was a giant in the law,\u201d said Judge Wahi. \u201cWhat I will remember most is her unwavering devotion to public service\u2014a devotion she reaffirmed in our final conversation about difficult cases, the day before she died, when she reminded me that our highest calling is service to others\u2014a charge I will forever carry with me.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to her obituary in the St. Paul Pioneer Press<\/a>, a Mass of Christian burial will be at 10 am on Aug. 11 at Church of the Assumption in downtown St. Paul. A visitation will be held 6-8 pm on Aug. 10 at Bradshaw Funeral Home in Stillwater.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mitchell Hamline mourns the loss of the trailblazer and inspirational leader, former Justice Esther M. Tomljanovich \u201955, who passed away on July 26 at the age of 94. Tomljanovich\u2014or \u201cJustice T\u201d as she was lovingly known by the Mitchell Hamline community\u2014spent her life serving in the law, advancing the cause of women\u2019s rights, and inspiring … <\/p>\n

Losing a legend: Former Justice Esther M. Tomljanovich \u201955 dies at age 94<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2537,"featured_media":74107,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[21,3,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-74103","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-alumni","category-features","category-news","entry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mitchellhamline.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74103","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mitchellhamline.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mitchellhamline.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mitchellhamline.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2537"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mitchellhamline.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=74103"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/mitchellhamline.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74103\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":74113,"href":"https:\/\/mitchellhamline.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74103\/revisions\/74113"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mitchellhamline.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/74107"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mitchellhamline.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=74103"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mitchellhamline.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=74103"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mitchellhamline.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=74103"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}