Theresa m whelan biography

Theresa Whelan, of Wading River, a longtime Suffolk County Judge who served for more than 10 years in family court and most recently as the county’s Surrogate’s Court judge, died December 26, 2022 after a courageous battle with cancer.

She was 60.

Theresa Whelan always knew she wanted to be in public service. As a young attorney fresh out of Albany Law School, she began her legal career in 1988 as a Suffolk County Assistant County Attorney. She entered the court system in 1990 as a senior law clerk to Supreme Court Judge Eli Wagner, in Nassau County.  She went on to work as a principal law clerk in Suffolk County for Supreme Court Judge Mary M.

Werner and, later, Supreme Court Judge William B. Rebolini. During her 17 years in the Supreme Court, she worked in nearly every part, including civil litigation, guardianship, tax certiorari and condemnation cases as well as matrimonial matters.

She eventually took the bench herself in 2008 after she was