JOAN AUERBACH

AUERBACH--Joan Sudolnik, age 83, a former New York State Acting Supreme Court Judge, died unexpectedly on March 16, 2023, in Manhattan of a gastrointestinal hemorrhage. She was born in Cleveland, Ohio, and graduated from Kent State University in 1961. After college, she moved to New York and worked odd jobs--waitress at the Gaslight cafe, secretary at MAD Magazine and the United Nations--before attending the NYU School of Law, from which she graduated in 1968. She was appointed an Assistant District Attorney that same year and served as Chief of the Major Felony Program, Deputy Chief of Trial Division, and Administrative ADA. Joan was appointed Criminal Court Judge in 1980, followed by appointments to Acting Supreme Court Judge in the Bronx in 1982 and in Manhattan in 1988, a position she held until her retirement in 2005. She was known for her patience and fairness and her dry sense of humor, and was a keen observer of people. Even greater than her devotion to the law was her devotion to her family. Joan was a loving, supportive, and kind wife, mother, and grandmother. She was preceded in death by her husband of 48 years, Bart, and is survived by her son, Scott Auerbach; her daughter-in-law, Aiah Wieder; her granddaughter, Imogen Auerbach; and her sister, brothers, niece, and nephews. She will remain in our hearts forever.