WISCONSINREPORT.COM (02/17/2011) - A man born in Stevens Point, Wisconsin, who went on to become Portage County District Attorney, a State Senator for Central Wisconsin, followed by 20 years on the State Supreme Court bench, has died two weeks short of his 70th birthday. Former Supreme Court Justice Bill Bablitch passed away at his winter home in Hawaii.

State Sen. Tim Cullen, a former Bablitch colleague in the Senate, says Bablitch passed away at about midnight, Wisconsin time at his winter home in Kailua-Kona.

William A. Bablitch served two terms on the state Supreme Court from 1983 to 2003. Prior to that he served as Portage County DA until his election to the state Senate in 1972.

His 11-year stint in the Senate included seven years as Senate Majority Leader. Bablitch left the Senate upon his election to the Supreme Court.

Bablitch was born in Stevens Point, Wisconsin March 1, 1941, and graduated from Pacelli High School (Wisconsin) in 1959.

After graduation from Pacelli he studied at the University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point and received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1963.

He served in the Peace Corps for two years before earning a law degree from the University of Wisconsin Law School in 1968 and a master of laws degree in the appellate process from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1987.

Bablitch served as Portage County district attorney from 1969 to 1972 and served in the Wisconsin State Senate from 1972 to 1983, serving as president pro tempore and majority leader.

Bablitch was elected to the Wisconsin Supreme Court in 1983 and reelected in 1993.

Justice Bablitch retired at the end of his term July 31, 2003.

At the time of his death, Bablitch was a part-time partner at the law firm of Michael, Best & Friedrich in Madison.

Bablitch is survived by his wife of 25 years, Anne Milne, his daughter Bulleh Bablitch-Norkeh, and two grandaughters.

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