Former judge Marybelle Mueller dies; remembered as first female lawyer to serve as judge in Missouri

Former Cape Girardeau County judge Marybelle Mueller, the first female lawyer to serve on the bench in Missouri, was remembered Friday as a judicial pioneer.

Mueller of Jackson died Wednesday at Chateau Girardeau Health Center in Cape Girardeau. She was 91.

Former federal judge Stephen N. Limbaugh Sr., who grew up in Cape Girardeau, said Mueller was a �fine person� who entered the legal profession at a time when few women were lawyers.

Limbaugh said he and Mueller were students at the University of Missouri Law School in Columbia in the early 1950s.

Mueller was one of only a handful of women studying law at the school at the time, Limbaugh recalled.

�She was a real pioneer,� he said of her role as a woman in the legal profession.

�She was a very bright person,� Limbaugh said, adding Mueller was �very professional in all her dealings.�

He added, �Nothing ever affected her objectivity.�

Limbaugh said, �She was a very fair and delightful person.�

Still, some male lawyers early on objected to having a woman on the bench.

�They were irritated they had to go to a female judge,� Limbaugh remembered.

But Limbaugh said she �handled it very well� as a judge.

Mueller was appointed as a judge in 1955 by then Gov. Phil Donnelly to fill a vacancy. In 1956, she was elected to fill the remainder of the term and won a full term in 1958.

In 1962, she decided not to seek re-election, choosing instead to raise her five children, according to Southeast Missourian archives.

Mueller returned to the bench in 1974 when she was elected as a Cape Girardeau County associate circuit judge. She continued to win elections and served in that post until her retirement at the end of 1994.

In all, she served 27 years as an active judge and four more years as a senior judge under the direction of the Missouri Supreme Court.

Limbaugh said his family and Mueller�s were friends despite their political differences. The Limbaughs were Republicans; the Muellers were Democrats.

�We had cordial conversations about politics,� Limbaugh recalled.

Before becoming a judge, Mueller and her attorney husband, Paul, practiced law in Jackson. He preceded her in death.

At the time of her retirement, she was the only female judge in Southeast Missouri.

In 2009, she received the R.A. Fulenwider Meritorious Community Service Award from the Jackson Area Chamber of Commerce in recognition of her legal career and community involvement.

She was active in numerous civic organizations, including serving on the board of trustees of Jackson Senior Center and on various boards and committees of New McKendree United Methodist Church in Jackson. She was former president of the historic Old McKendree Chapel.

Ford and Sons Funeral Home is handling the arrangements, which are private.

mbliss@semissourian.com

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