Blair County Judge Ilissa Zimmerman will be hanging up her judicial robes and returning to her former role as the county’s divorce and custody master. Mirror photo by Kay Stephens

HOLLIDAYSBURG — Blair County Judge Ilissa Zimmerman of Duncansville is completing her judicial appointment on Dec. 31 and returning to her former role as the county’s divorce and custody master.

Zimmerman, 67, was appointed to the post in July 2022 to fill a vacancy created by the early retirement of Judge Daniel J. Milliron.

Mirror reporter Kay Stephens recently talked with Zimmerman about her judicial role.

Mirror: In your 1.5 years on the bench, you primarily handled divorce, custody, protection-from-abuse matters and similar disputes that kept you busy and filled your schedule. Did you enjoy that?

Zimmerman: I did because the work is so rewarding. The people you work with, whether it’s the attorneys or the litigants, those are the kind of cases where everybody really thinks about why they’re here and uses their time wisely. And everyone participates, because they’re interested in making sure the outcome is the best that it can be.

Mirror: Most people have the perception that in those kinds of cases, one side is unhappy and the other side is happy. So is there middle ground?

Zimmerman: There’s a lot of middle ground. People come here to get a decision, but it doesn’t mean the matter ends. Whatever decision is made, they have to apply it in their lives. And they have to be open to what the other side’s position is because as they go forward applying the court order, that will benefit them as well as the other side.

Mirror: And what is your role in that process?

Zimmerman: To make a decision because they’re here to have a decision made. So my role is to listen to what everyone has to say and to try to make the outcome, especially when children are involved, into a workable order for the children, their parents or their guardians or their grandparents.

Mirror: If you enjoy the work, why didn’t you run for judge?

Zimmerman: I guess the answer is that I was asked to fill this position and to assist the court, to make sure that the community continued to be served for that year and a half when Judge Milliron was not available.

Mirror: So if you would be asked to fill the vacancy created through Judge Elizabeth Doyle’s lack of retention, would you be interested?

Zimmerman: There are a lot of people more qualified than I am to be a judge.

And I want to return to the job I had — divorce and custody master — which also allows me to serve the community. I think my skills are better placed in custody and divorce, as a hearing officer for those matters, which are the skills that probably put me in this (judicial) spot.

Mirror: So what experience do you take away from your time as a judge?

Zimmerman: The work can be difficult. Sometimes, you have to address areas of law that you’ve never had any experience with, so you have to learn entire areas of law for one case. The parties are entitled to have a judge who has educated herself before they come into court to present their positions. I spent a lot of weekends getting ready for the next week because there were so many areas that I hadn’t practiced in. So I learned a lot by being a judge, all valuable.

Mirror: Will your time as a judge make you better as a divorce and custody master?

Zimmerman: Absolutely. Having the perspective of a judge will help me in being a master, because people can file exceptions to a master’s decision, which goes to a judge. So knowing what judges face, that gives me a better perspective as a master.

Mirror: What would you describe as difficult cases?

Zimmerman: The property cases where they’re disputes over property lines, where people owned a house together and then they no longer want to own it together; the cases with dissolution of joint ownership and disputes over property lines, having to divide up a house, a farm — those cases can be difficult. And ones where somebody has encroached on a line or built on the property line, those are difficult.

Mirror: What cases did you find to be rewarding?

Zimmerman: In domestic relations, calculations of child support and (alimony-

related support) are challenging, but rewarding. And it’s work that needs to be done: making determinations of funds that are available, calculating incomes, examining people’s tax returns, looking at people’s needs, tuition, child care issues, anything that has to do with calculating how much support is the proper amount. I don’t think everyone would relish that work, but I spent a lot of time on that because I was willing to do that.

Mirror: It sounds like you’re a detail-oriented person.

Zimmerman: What the people do upstairs in domestic relations, nobody has any idea. There’s so much that goes into calculating child support, looking at incomes and needs, determining what is the proper amount of child support, spousal support … and seeing that the person paying it has to be able to live their own life and take care of their own family … those are challenging but rewarding cases … and when you finally do make a decision, you hope it sticks.

Mirror: Is there anything you didn’t like about being a judge?

Zimmerman: No, not at all. I was very fortunate to get to be a judge for a year and a half. It’s a unique position for a lawyer and one that not every lawyer gets to hold.

Mirror: What advice would you offer to Blair County’s newest judges, Fred Miller and David Consiglio?

Zimmerman: Do your homework and be prepared. But there’s so many areas of law that you always have to be learning, so you have to stay open-minded. You can review a file and think: “I understand where we’re going with this,” then the parties come in and the arguments presented make you say “Wow.” That’s why you’ve got to stay open-minded.

Mirror Staff Writer Kay Stephens is at 814-946-7456.