To say that retired York County Common Pleas Judge Penny Blackwell lived a unique and adventurous life is a gross understatement.
She was born in Panama, her parents stationed there with the U.S. military. She was orphaned at eight and served as mother to her three younger brothers in a Texas orphanage for three years, the family split up by a judge who sent the children to live with different families, a moment that inspired Blackwell to aspire to become a judge and steer “the justice system to be more respectful and kinder to all who interacted with it,” her family wrote in her obituary.
In 1959, when she was 11, a judge ordered her to live with distant family in Oregon. The family was ill equipped to care for her, and she found solace in caring for animals, including a chihuahua and a monkey. She played volleyball, training with the U.S. Olympic team in Hawaii. She raced motorcycles and won trophies at hill climb competitions.
She worked her way through school, eventually earning her law degree from American University. She was among the first lawyers to serve in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s regional office in Philadelphia.
She married Dr. John Sanstead and moved to York, forming a law partnership with the late Dan Wolfson.
She first ran for judge in 1988 and lost. She tried again five years later and was successful, becoming just the second woman elected to the York County bench. She served in family court, bringing her experience to the tough decisions that had to be made to protect children. She was known for holding emergency hearings at her home, after hours, to decide whether to remove children from their homes.
She was instrumental in creating treatment court to divert those suffering from substance abuse from jail to rehab.
She retired from the bench in 2015.
She passed away Aug. 5 at Country Meadows. from complications of Parkinson’s and dementia, at age 74, according to her obituary.
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Her impact on the lives of people who appeared in court before was evidenced in a remembrance posted on her obituary.
A man named Robert Homyak wrote, “Many times I began to write a letter, but never completed it. I had a brief interaction with you back in 1996. I stood before you pleading for my right as a father. After several failed attempts in Cambria County I found myself in your courtroom, again awaiting the seemingly predetermined judgment. But that was not the case. You really listened, and obviously cared more for my daughter than status quo. I often thought of you and wanted to someday thank you in person for the tremendous gift. I am sorry that I didn’t. My daughter is educated, married, and a parent. I am so proud of her. That is partially because you granted me the opportunity to be a father, and raise my daughter with the greatest upbringing that I could provide her, unhindered. Thank you Honorable Judge Blackwell for you knowledge, insight, and taking the time to care about my daughter.”
Tim Lawson, a former York City police officer and York County sheriff’s deputy, recalled “her genuine personality.”
“Being a relatively new York City police officer, a lot of the attorneys I dealt with in court looked down on me, however Penny treated me as a professional and I appreciated that,” Lawson wrote. “During my career I came to know her better and whenever I saw her she had a smile and a kind word for me.”
York attorney Chris Ferro wrote, “Judge Blackwell was a giant in the York County legal community. She was tough but always compassionate. Her kindness was genuine and her concern authentic.”
Read her obituary here.
This article originally appeared on York Daily Record: York County Judge Penny Blackwell has passed away