Robert Kay Woltz

WOLTZ Retired Circuit Judge Robert Kay Woltz, 88, died peacefully Thursday, March 22, 2007 in Richmond, Va. at the home of his daughter, Rita Woltz, after suffering for several months from prostate cancer. Judge Woltz was born in Salem, Va. on January 31, 1919 to Maxwell Farrah and Irma Killian Woltz. While very young, he lived in Pennsylvania and Canada, but returned to Salem prior to his attending Andrew Lewis High School. He attended the University of Virginia and was a member of Phi Kappa Psi Fraternity and the West Lawn Marching and Chowder Society. He was later inducted into the University's Raven Society. He entered the Army in 1942 and served as a corporal in the Counter-Intelligence Corp in England and France in WWII. After the war, he returned to the U.V.A. to attend law school. He later re-enrolled at the University to receive the first masters in law degree awarded in Virginia. He moved to Winchester, Va. in 1947 and began practicing law with Thomas G. Scully. In 1968, he was sworn in as a circuit judge for Winchester, as well as for Frederick, Warren, Clarke, Shenandoah, Page and Rockingham Counties, serving in that role until 1989. In nearly 21 years on the bench, only two of his opinions were reversed by the Virginia Supreme Court. After retiring, he continued to hear cases as a substitute judge as an expression of gratitude for the retired judges who had substituted for him. As a member of the Virginia Bar, his activities included serving as president of the Winchester Bar, the Virginia State Bar's regional vice president, and member and chairman of its Seventh District Commission, member of the Joint Commission on Continuing Legal Education of the Virginia State Bar and Virginia Bar Association, and as adjunct professor for University of Virginia School of Law. In addition, he was selected as a fellow of the Virginia Law Foundation in honor of his distinguished service to the Commonwealth of Virginia, the bench and bar, and local community. Judge Woltz was an active philanthropist and community leader. He loved and contributed to the Winchester community by serving on the board of the Godfrey Miller Home for 58 years, as the president of the Winchester-Frederick County Historical Society for 10 years, and on the French and Indian War Foundation Board for five years. In honor of his deceased brother, a former U.V.A. law professor, he established the Charles Killian Woltz foundation for the benefit of instruction in Spanish at the University of Virginia. As a member of Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church for 59 years, he served for a time as trustee and on the Congregational Council, taught an adult Bible class for 40 years, and held other leadership positions. He also formed the Woltz-Winchester Foundation to enhance and enrich the culture, beauty, historical education and charitable life of the Winchester and Frederick area. He was partly responsible for establishing new courthouses in four of the seven jurisdictions of his circuit. One of them, the Frederick-Winchester Judicial Center, was likely the first to combine two separate jurisdictions. A lover of the area's history, he also helped plan and have commissioned a commemorative statue to his hero, George Washington. Believing that he had not done enough for the poor, in his latter years he volunteered at Lord Fairfax Area Food Bank. He was predeceased by his wife, Rita Holmes Robinson Woltz, after more than 45 years of devoted marriage. Survivors include two adopted sons, Dr. E. Clarke Haley Jr. of Charlottesville, Va. and Timothy F. Haley of Northfield Ill.; three daughters, Lynn W. Bernard of Midlothian, Va., Rita R. Woltz and Sarah W. Powers, both of Richmond, Va.; and 10 grandchildren. Funeral services will be held at Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church in Winchester at 11 a.m. Wednesday, March 28, officiated by Pastors James H. Utt and Martha Miller Sims. Interment at Mount Hebron Cemetery will follow a reception. Visitation will be from 3 to 5 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. Tuesday, March 27 at the Woltz Pavillion, Godfrey Miller Home, 28 South Loudoun St. Pallbearers will be Thomas S. Bell, Stephen Furst, Wilkie Green, Robert L. Jones III, Richard D. Kern Jr., Nikolas E. Parthemos, Thomas Scully Jr. and B. Lynn Robertson of Falling Waters, W.Va. Honorary pallbearers include Justice Henry Whiting and Judge John E. Wetsel Jr. Memorial contributions may be made to the Woltz-Winchester Foundation, 50 South Cameron St., Winchester, 22601, the Godfrey Miller Home, 28 South Loudoun St., Winchester, Va. 22601, or the Winchester-Frederick County Historical Society, 1340 S. Pleasant Valley Rd., Winchester, Va. 22601. Arrangements are made with Jones Funeral Home.