SUPERPOWER: Fostering independence
Retired Chief Clerk, U.S. District Court for Northern District of West Virginia and Municipal Court Judge, Star City and Granville, West Virginia
Because of her early love for reading, a teacher once told Michelle Widmer-Eby that she should be a lawyer. That thought never really left her head, and it set her forth on a path that would take her to great heights.
Widmer-Eby practiced law in Morgantown from 1983 until 2010, when she began a new position with the U.S. District Court. She retired from that role in 2021 and still works as the municipal court judge for Star City and Granville, but in recent years, she has found time for endeavors that mean a great deal to her outside of the field of law.
Through work with PACE Association of Monongalia County, which her parents co-founded, Widmer-Eby is helping to open PACE Place, a set of housing suites for people with developmental disabilities who want to live independently. Her sister had Down syndrome and enjoyed a very independent life, the type of life that Widmer-Eby wants all folks with disabilities to be able to experience. “She had a roommate, and she loved it,” she says. “She was very proud of the key she’d carry around all the time. She loved her job at the workshop—she lived for it.”
Widmer-Eby is also on the board of directors of Stepping Stones, a recreation center for individuals with disabilities. She hosts bingo nights once a month and says it’s one of the most rewarding things she’s ever done. “I just really love it, because I get more from them than they get from me,” she says.
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