Dorothy W. Spomer
Southern Illinois lost a legal pioneer on Saturday, April 23. Dorothy Wilbourn Spomer, 90, passed away in Cape Girardeau.
Dorothy held the distinction of being the first woman judge in Southern Illinois, having been elected Alexander County Judge in 1950 and later Circuit Judge. After 27 years, she retired from the bench, only to soon be appointed by the Illinois Supreme Court to become the first female to sit on the Fifth District Appellate Court. She left the court in 1980 and joined the practice of law with her husband, W.C. Spomer. They practiced as Spomer and Spomer until 1992.
Judge Spomer graduated at the age of 22 with honors from the University of Illinois School of Law, where she was a member of the Order of the Coif. Her first case after law school was with her father, attorney Asa Wilbourn, before the Supreme Court, where she argued and won an election contest lawsuit.
During her judicial career, Judge Spomer heard cases throughout Southern Illinois and garnered the reputation as a principled, fair-minded jurist. Quiet and demur, she led by example. Always prepared and proficient in shorthand, it was not unusual for her notes to rival those of the court reporter.
In 2009, she was a recipient of Southern Illinois University's Inspiring Women of Achievement Award. She was a member of the Illinois Judges Association and Illinois Bar Association, past president of Cairo Business & Professional Women and former member of Cairo School Board, Altar Guild and Board of Directors of Immanuel Lutheran Church. She also was a long-standing member of Egyptian Country Club.
Judge Spomer was preceded in death by her husband, Wally; father, Judge Asa Wilbourn; mother, Margaret; brother, Dr. Asa J. Wilbourn; and sister, June Smith.
She is survived by a daughter, Lisa (Arthur) Krasnoff of Slidell, La.; two sons, retired USAF Major John (Barbara) Spomer of Omaha, Neb., and Fifth District Appellate Court Justice Stephen (Debra) Spomer of Cairo; six grandchildren, Amy, John, Adam, Rachel, Grace and Sam; and a sister, Naomi Carr of Colorado.
Services will be at 10:30 a.m. Friday, April 29, 2011, in Immanuel Lutheran Church in Cairo, with Pastor Albert Nyland and the Rev. Larry Potts officiating. Burial will be in Mound City National Cemetery. Visitation will be from 4 to 8 p.m. Thursday, April 28, 2011, at Barkett Funeral Home in Cairo.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Immanuel Lutheran Church, Magnolia Manor or the National Cemetery Preservation Committee at Mound City.
