Former Court of Appeals Judges

Martha Bablitch

District IV (1978-1985)

Martha Bablitch was elected to District IV when the court was created in 1978. She was reelected in 1982 and served until 1985, when she resigned. Her second term was marred by repeated bouts of clinical depression and treatment for alcoholism. After her resignation, she became involved in the alcohol recovery community in Madison. The Wisconsin State Journal wrote in April 2007, “Ironically, given the ongoing nature of her struggle with depression, she said she found great peace in her struggle with [lung] cancer.”

She was born in Lawrence, Kansas, and grew up in Ypsilanti, Michigan, where her mother was an attorney and her father was an English professor. She was a graduate of Lawrence University and University of Wisconsin Law School. Before her election to the court, she practiced law with the Stevens Point firm of Bablitch & Bablitch.

Martha Bablitch died at the age of 62 on April 4, 2007, at her home surrounded by people she loved and who loved her.

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