Martha Bablitch (née Virtue; October 28, 1944 – April 4, 2007) was a judge on the

Wisconsin Court of Appeals The Wisconsin Court of Appeals is an intermediate appellate court that reviews contested decisions of the Wisconsin circuit courts. The Court of Appeals was created in August 1978 to alleviate the Wisconsin Supreme Court's rising number of appe ...

Biography

Martha Jean Virtue was born on October 28, 1944 in

Lawrence, Kansas Lawrence is the county seat of Douglas County, Kansas, Douglas County, Kansas, United States, and the sixth-largest city in the state. It is in the northeastern sector of the state, astride Interstate 70, between the Kansas River, Kansas and Waka ...

to John and Maxine (née Boord) Virtue. Martha grew up in

Ypsilanti, Michigan Ypsilanti (), commonly shortened to Ypsi, is a city in Washtenaw County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 census, the city's population was 20,648. The city is bounded to the north by Superior Township and on the west, south, and ...

where her mother was a lawyer and her father an English professor at Eastern Michigan University. She moved to

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

to attend

Lawrence University Lawrence University is a private liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Appleton, Wisconsin. Founded in 1847, its first classes were held on November 12, 1849. Lawrence was the second college in the U.S. to be founded as a coeducation ...

and later graduated from the University of Wisconsin Law School.

Career

Bablitch practiced private law with the firm Bablitch & Bablitch in Stevens Point, Wisconsin. In the 1970s she was a board member for the Wisconsin state Council on Criminal Justice. She was elected to the Wisconsin Court of Appeals for district 4 when it was created in 1978 and re-elected in 1982. She retired in 1985.

Personal life and death

She was married to William A. Bablitch, who was a member of the Wisconsin State Senate and

Wisconsin Supreme Court The Wisconsin Supreme Court is the highest appellate court in Wisconsin. The Supreme Court has jurisdiction over original actions, appeals from lower courts, and regulation or administration of the practice of law in Wisconsin. Location The Wi ...

. They divorced in 1978. After her retirement, Bablitch devoted her time to the alcohol recovery community in Madison, focusing on other women and lawyers working towards recovery. In April 1986, Bablitch was interviewed in

Milwaukee Magazine ''Milwaukee Magazine'' is a monthly city magazine serving the Milwaukee metropolitan area in Wisconsin, United States. It bills itself as "Southeastern Wisconsin's most authoritative source for Events and Dining," and reports a readership of ...

where she discussed her struggles with depression and alcoholism. On March 17, 2004 her portrait, along with 14 other Wisconsin Women Jurists, was exhibited at the Wisconsin state house of representatives. She died from

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma (since about 98–99% of all lung cancers are carcinomas), is a malignant lung tumor characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissue (biology), tissues of the lung. Lung carcinomas derive from tran ...

on April 4, 2007 at her home in Waunakee, Wisconsin.

External links

Martha Bablitch; Wisconsin Historical Society Archives.

Opinions Authored by Bablitch; Court of Appeals of Wisconsin

Martha J. ''Virtue'' Bablitch; Find A Grave

The Search for Normal. Milwaukee Magazine. April 1986.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bablitch, Martha People from Lawrence, Kansas People from Ypsilanti, Michigan People from Stevens Point, Wisconsin People from Waunakee, Wisconsin Wisconsin Court of Appeals judges Wisconsin lawyers Lawrence University alumni University of Wisconsin Law School alumni 1944 births 2007 deaths Deaths from lung cancer in Wisconsin 20th-century American judges 20th-century American women judges Alcoholics Anonymous 20th-century American lawyers 21st-century American women lawyers