Former Connecticut Judge Wollenberg passes away at age 79
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July 7, 2012
Connecticut: Former Connecticut judge and Republican legislator William L. Wollenberg, famous for his passionate contributions on the house floor, died July 2nd, 2012, just a week shy of his 80th birthday.[1]
Wollenberg was born in Hartford, Connecticut, attended Farmington High School, and then went on to Middlebury College in Vermont and the University of Connecticut law school. A lawmaker for twelve years and a conservative, Wollenberg squared off on issues such as the death penalty and gay rights in great contention against Representative Richard Tulisano, an equally spirited Democrat and intense civil libertarian. The peak of these intense battle of issues happened throughout the late 1980s and the early 1990s. Current Senate majority leader, Senator Martin Looney, commented that he ”learned as much law from Bill and Richard as I did in law school.”[1]
Wollenberg was nominated for a judgeship in December of 1996 by Republican Governor John G. Rowland. Wollenberg was in the same noteworthy class of judges such as current chief court administrator Barbara M. Quinn and Peter Zarella, a Republican who rose all the way to the state Supreme Court.[1]
Known as one of the top debaters among the House Republicans until he became a judge, Wollenberg's nomination had been approved by the same judiciary committee he had served on for years. Richard Tulisano, who had also served on the committee, testified on Wollenberg's behalf, afterwards giving Wollenberg a traditional Italian kiss. Tulsiano was very proud his Italian heritage and loved to share it.[2]
Wollenberg is survived by his wife and their five children, as well as by his sister and his brother-in-law and many nephews and nieces. Burial with full military honors will be in the Riverside Cemetery in Farmington.[3]
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