MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Senior Status Judge Robert C. Halbritter passed away July 7 at his home in Morgantown at the age of 92.
Judge Halbritter served as a circuit judge in the Preston County Eighteenth Judicial Circuit from December 15, 1971, to January 31, 1997, and then served as a senior status judge for many years.
He was a member of the West Virginia House of Delegates from 1966 to 1971 and a member of the Kingwood City Council from 1962 to 1964.
“I am so sorry to learn of the passing of Judge Halbritter,” said Chief Justice John Hutchison. “When I was appointed in 1995, he immediately took me and a number of other new judges under his wing. He was a fantastic mentor to all of us and I considered him a true friend.”
“Judge Halbritter was a pillar of Preston County and exemplar of judicial integrity,” said Eighteenth Judicial Circuit Judge Steven L. Shaffer.
“He was an outstanding jurist and a major civic leader in Preston County,” said Justice William R. Wooton. “I had a lot of respect for him. I extend my deepest sympathies to his family.”
Judge Halbritter was born May 28, 1930, in Grafton. He attended Potomac State College and West Virginia University and received a law degree from West Virginia University College of Law in 1954. He later took graduate courses at the National Judicial College.
He practiced law from June 8, 1954, to December 15, 1971, with the exception of the two years he spent in the U.S. Army, from November 16, 1954, to November 15, 1956.
He served as the president of the West Virginia Judicial Association in 1984-85 and served at various times on the Education Committee, Judicial Seminar Committee, Committee on Realignment of Judicial Circuits, Committee to Review Forms, Orders, and Documents used by Family Law Masters, Committee on Implementing New Juror Selection Act, Committee on Circuit Court Statistics of Judicial Activity, Committee on
Revision of Trial Court Rules, and the Committee on Establishment of Trial Judges Bench Book. Legislative Committee, Committee on Meeting and Arrangements, and Committee to Implement the Establishment of Law Clerk Program for Circuit Judges.
He was Chairman of the Judicial Hearing Board 1983-1984 and a member 1995-1997. He was West Virginia Court Reporter Board of Review President 1975-1978. He was cochairman of the Gender Fairness Task Force 1993-1996.
He lectured at West Virginia University College of Law and at numerous conferences and meetings across the country.
He was a member of the West Virginia State Bar Committee on Professionalism in 1988. He was a former board member and past president of the West Virginia University Foundation, the Boy Scouts of America Mountaineer Area Council, and the Kingwood Rotary Club. He was a visiting committee member of the West Virginia University School of Medicine 1987-1990. He was a past general chairman of the Preston County
Buckwheat Festival.
He was a member of St. Michaels Episcopal Church in Kingwood and the Freemasons of West Virginia Aurora Lodge.
He is survived by his wife, Waneila Fisher Halbritter, three adult sons, ten grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
A memorial service celebrating his life will be scheduled at a later date.
Memorial donations may be made to St. Michael’s Episcopal Church in Kingwood or the West Virginia University Foundation.
Kingwood Funeral Home and Crematory is in charge of arrangements.