Woodbury Officials Honor Town Justice/Educator

HIGHLAND MILLS – Senator James Skoufis (D-Hudson Valley) and Town of Woodbury Supervisor Thomas Burke gathered with local officials on Friday to formally dedicate the recently-renovated Highland Mills justice court as the Judge Edward J. Kellman Court House. Kellman’s daughter, Lisa Holton, was also in attendance to commemorate her father’s legacy.

Kellman served as Woodbury Town Justice for 34 years beginning in 1971 and was a beloved educator in the Monroe-Woodbury school district until his retirement in 1978. He served on numerous municipal boards and was a member of the Woodbury Community Association. Kellman passed away in 2005.

The Route 32 landmark had long housed a variety of town operations until just recently, including meetings of the town board attended by Skoufis when he served as a councilman. In 2021, Skoufis presented local officials with a grant for $300,000 to enable much-needed improvements to the courthouse including a roof replacement, new windows, drainage, siding, ADA-compliant entrances, and other significant upgrades. The building will now exclusively house court functions and proceedings.

“I am honored to witness the culmination of many years of work on the part of Woodbury officials to improve court access, and to celebrate the life and legacy of a committed public servant in the process,” said Senator Skoufis. “Justice Kellman was uniformly beloved at my alma mater and throughout his community and this dedication is a small token of respect and gratitude for all he did for Woodbury.”

“Judge Edward J. Kellman impacted so many lives in a personal way, including my own,” said Supervisor Thomas J. Burke. “He was a man who committed himself to the community, to serving, to teaching, and to leading. Judge Kellman embodied the term ‘servant leadership’ throughout the course of his life. It is an honor to be here today to dedicate the newly renovated courthouse as the Judge Edward J. Kellman Court House.”