Esther Tomljanovich

Esther Jeanne Tomljanovich (née Moellering; November 1, 1931 – July 26, 2026) was an American lawyer and judge who served as an associate justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court.

Early life and education Tomljanovich was born in Galt, Iowa, on November 1, 1931. She moved with her parents to Buck Lake in Itasca County, Minnesota. Thanks to a school teacher who boarded with the Moellering family during the depression, Tomljanovich had access to outside of school tutoring where she discovered her love for reading. She was inspired by the radio show Portia Moot, starring a woman lawyer of the same name who represented a very small minority of educated working women. Justice Tomljanovich explained that it was her desire to emulate Portia Moot that was at least partially responsible for her becoming a lawyer and a justice on the Minnesota Supreme Court.

She then attended Itasca Junior College for two years before moving to St. Paul for law school at age 19. Although she was the only woman in her class, she was treated well by the professors and her classmates and was never frightened of the experience. She explained that she never realized she had anything to fear, a state of mind passed down to her from her father.

Esther Tomljanovich died from complications of heart failure in Lake Elmo on July 26, 2026, at the age of 94.