# Esther Tomljanovich *American lawyer and judge; associate justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court* Esther Jeanne Tomljanovich (née Moellering; November 1, 1931 – July 26, 2026) was a Minnesota lawyer and jurist.[^1] In state government she drafted legislation as Assistant Revisor of Statutes and later served as Revisor. She then sat as a district court judge in Washington County, and from 1990 to 1998 she was an associate justice of the [[Minnesota Supreme Court]].[^1] Both of her judicial appointments came from Governor [[Rudy Perpich]], in 1977 and in 1990. The [[Legislature]] had named her Revisor of Statutes in 1974.[^1] The Minnesota State Law Library keeps a biography of her under the name Esther M. Tomljanovich.[^2] [[Mitchell Hamline School of Law]] succeeded the St. Paul College of Law, where she studied.[^1] In 2022 Mitchell Hamline honored her at a Women in Law celebration.[^3] ## Early life and education She was born on November 1, 1931, in Galt, Iowa. Her parents moved the family to Buck Lake in [[Itasca County, Minnesota]].[^1] During the Depression a schoolteacher boarded with the Moellering family and tutored her outside school, and this is where Wikipedia's account places the start of her love of reading.[^1] She later said that a radio program, *Portia Moot*, about a lawyer of that name, was at least partly why she went into law.[^1] She spent two years at Itasca Junior College. At 19 she moved to St. Paul to study law.[^1] While she was enrolled at the St. Paul College of Law, she held a job at Minnesota Mutual Life Insurance Company. She graduated in 1955.[^1] Mitchell Hamline lists her in its class of '55.[^3] ## Career Tomljanovich was Assistant Revisor of Statutes for the State of Minnesota from 1957 to 1966. She was first hired for editorial tasks and over time moved into drafting bills and working directly with legislators.[^1] Her son was born in May 1966, and she stayed home to raise him while continuing to work.[^1] She did indexing for West Publishing and edited practice manuals for Minnesota Continuing Legal Education. She also drafted bills for some lobbying organizations and drafted proposed rules of Criminal Procedure for the County Attorney's Association.[^1] She served on the [[Lake Elmo]] [[Planning Commission]] and on the North St. Paul-Maplewood School Board.[^1] In 1971 she joined the research division of the [[Minnesota House of Representatives]]. Wikipedia describes the move as made with an eye to succeeding the retiring Revisor of Statutes.[^1] The legislature appointed her Revisor of Statutes in 1974, and she held the post until 1977.[^1] On August 30, 1977, Governor Perpich named her a trial judge for the 10th district. Wikipedia records that she was the second woman in the state to reach that position.[^1] She was reelected in 1978 and again in 1984, and she remained a district court judge in Washington County until 1990.[^1] That year Perpich elevated her to the Minnesota Supreme Court. She served on the court until she retired in 1998.[^1] From 2002 until 2020 she was a member of the Medica board of directors.[^1] ## Personal life and death She married Bill Tomljanovich in 1957, and the family made its home in Lake Elmo.[^1] He died on May 13, 2025, aged 98.[^1] She died of complications of heart failure in Lake Elmo on July 26, 2026, at 94.[^1] ## In the Minnesota record ### What - Offices held: Assistant Revisor of Statutes (1957–1966), Revisor of Statutes (1974–1977), district court judge (1977–1990), and associate justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court (1990–1998).[^1] ### When - Appointed to the trial bench on August 30, 1977. Appointed to the Supreme Court in 1990. Retired from the Supreme Court in 1998.[^1] ### Where - Born in Galt, Iowa. Raised at Buck Lake, Itasca County. Served as a trial judge in Washington County. Lived in Lake Elmo.[^1] ### How - The legislature appointed her Revisor of Statutes in 1974. Governor Rudy Perpich made the 1977 trial-court appointment and the 1990 Supreme Court appointment. She was reelected to the trial bench in 1978 and 1984.[^1] ## Notes [^1]: Wikipedia contributors, *Esther Tomljanovich* (revision 1380371569, retrieved 2026-10-26) — birth, education, offices held, appointments, reelections, and death. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esther_Tomljanovich [^2]: Minnesota State Law Library, *Esther M. Tomljanovich – Minnesota State Law Library Biography* — the library's biography of her under that name. https://mncourts.libguides.com/tomljanovich [^3]: Mitchell Hamline School of Law, *Justice Tomljanovich '55 honored at Women in Law celebration* (May 19, 2022) — the honor and her class year of 1955. https://mitchellhamline.edu/news/2022/05/19/justice-tomljanovich-55-honored-at-women-in-law-celebration/