Elizabeth Ehrlich

The Honorable Elizabeth (Goldblatt) Ehrlich, 83, of Wyomissing passed away on January 21. She was predeceased in November 2013 by her husband of 57 years, Leon Ehrlich. She is survived by her four children: Nathaniel "Ned" Ehrlich, husband of Meghan (Lynch) Ehrlich; William, husband of Alina (Negus) Ehrlich; Steve, husband of Sarah (Purdum) Ehrlich; and Nancy Ehrlich, wife of Philip Blazar. She is also survived by her seven grandchildren: Brittney Ehrlich, Emily Ehrlich, Julie Blazar, Thomas Ehrlich, Ellen Blazar, Helen Ehrlich and Ann Ehrlich.

Judge Ehrlich was born in the Bronx, New York on May 27, 1930. She was the devoted daughter of Ann (Lewy) and Julius Lewinski. Judge Ehrlich graduated in 1947 from Hunter College High School in Manhattan. She then attended Bryn Mawr College, graduating magna cum laude in 1951, majoring in political science. While at Bryn Mawr, she worked as a volunteer on the successful Philadelphia mayoral campaign of reformer Joseph Clark. In 1954, she graduated from Yale Law School, where she was the recipient of the Colby Townsend Memorial Prize for legal research. In her law school graduating class of 200 students, she was one of four women.

Since there were almost no private practice jobs for women in the mid-1950s at law firms, Judge Ehrlich took a job as an Assistant City Solicitor in Philadelphia upon graduation from law school. She served in that position until 1959. She was admitted to the Pennsylvania Bar in 1955. Her decision to join the Philadelphia City Solicitor's Office proved fortuitous on a personal level. Her supervisor, Helen Chait, Esquire, was friends with the wife of attorney (later Pennsylvania Superior Court Judge) Sydney Hoffman. Sydney Hoffman knew a young, single attorney from Reading named Leon Ehrlich. It was through this connection that Judge Ehrlich and Leon Ehrlich first met in 1955; they were married in November 1956. From 1960 to 1983, she was a partner with her husband in the firm of Ehrlich & Ehrlich in Reading, specializing in family law and trusts and estates. In 1983, she was the first woman elected to the Berks County Court of Common Pleas. During her campaign for judge, she stated that Berks County needed a family court to deal with divorce, custody and child support cases. After her election, the Family Court Division of the Berks County Court was established, and she served as its first Administrative Judge from 1984 to 2000.

She served on the Ethics Committee of the Pennsylvania Conference of Trial Judges from 1996-2000 and as a lecturer for the Pennsylvania Domestic Relations Association meetings from

1998-2004. She was a co-founder in 1998 of the Court-Appointed Special Advocate Program of Berks County and was a member of the Berks County Bar Association from 1960 until her death. Judge Ehrlich was a member of the board of directors of the Reading Hospital and Medical Center, The Highlands at Wyomissing, The Children's Home of Reading, Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Berks County, United Way of Berks County, Berks County Intermediate Unit and Bank of Pennsylvania. She was elected to the Wyomissing Area School Board, serving from 1971-1983. Judge Ehrlich was also one of the founders of Affinity Bank of Pennsylvania.

Judge Ehrlich was recognized for her dedication by a number of organizations, including the 2010 Girl Scouts Take The Lead Award, the Pennsylvania Domestic Relations President's Award for dedication and service in the area of child welfare in 2005, The Berks County Commission for Women 2004 honoree at its National History Day celebration, the YWCA of Berks County Trendsetter Award in 2000 and the Beacon Award in 1989 by the Berks Women's Network.

Judge Ehrlich was a devoted wife, mother and grandmother. Before it was common, she found a way to balance a professional career and a family life. She also took great pleasure in mentoring young women attorneys and advising students considering a legal career.

Funeral Services will be on Sunday, January 26, 2014 at 1:00 P.M. at Edward J. Kuhn Funeral Home, 739 Penn Avenue, West Reading, PA. Visitation with the family will be from 10:30 a.m. to 1:00 P.M. prior to the service. Burial will be private.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to either the Law Foundation of Berks County, P.O. Box 1058, Reading, PA 19603 or Bryn Mawr College, c/o Development Office, 101 N. Merion Ave., Bryn Mawr, PA 19010-2899 or the charity of your choice. Online condolences may be recorded at www.kuhnfuneralhome.com.