Elizabeth Shollenberger

Elizabeth Shollenberger

White Plains - White Plains City Court Judge Elizabeth Shollenberger, my wonderful, kind, sweet, vibrant, funny, keenly intelligent, fiercely competitive, loving (and greatly loved) wife of 29 years and partner of 42 years, died on Thursday, Sept. 5. She was 63.

Born in Alliance, OH, Liz graduated, as co-valedictorian, from Circleville High School, in Circleville, OH, in 1974. She went on to graduate from Princeton University (where we met) in 1978 and from Yale Law School in 1981.

Liz spent the bulk of her legal career as a Legal Services attorney, representing indigent clients in the Bronx and Queens. In Bronx Housing Court, Liz loved being the equalizer, altering the radical imbalance of power that normally exists in court between low-income tenants and their landlords.

In 1986, Liz was elected in a primary as Female Democratic District Leader for Greenwich Village, ending the rival Democratic club's 25-year hold on the Village's District Leader positions. She held that post for nine years, during which, in 1992, she played a key role in the initial election to Congress of Jerry Nadler, who now chairs the House Judiciary Committee.

In 2003, four years after moving to White Plains in 1999 with her husband, Tim James, Liz was elected Chair of the White Plains Democratic City Committee, She served joyfully and successfully in that position for over 13 years, until her appointment by the White Plains Common Council at the end of 2016 to be a City Court Judge.

During her tenure as Chair of the City Committee, she also served as a member of the Executive Committee of the Westchester County Democratic Committee. From 2014 until her appointment to the bench, she was a member of New York's Democratic State Committee.

In addition to her husband, Liz is survived by her mother, Nancy Shollenberger, of Circleville, OH, and by her half-sister, Diane Kuipers, of Lebanon, TN.

A Memorial Service will be held later this year or early next year.

Tim James