A Mass of Resurrection was held Nov. 4 at St. Aloysius Church, followed by a Service of Remembrance Nov. 5 for Judge Shirley A. Tolentino, 67, of Jersey City. She passed away Oct. 31 surrounded by friends and family. She was the only African American female in her class at Seton Hall University School of Law when she received her Juris Doctorate degree in 1971. In January of 1973, she was appointed as a deputy attorney general of the State of New Jersey where she remained until her appointment as first female to the Jersey City Municipal Court in 1976. Judge Tolentino went on to receive a specialized Master of Laws Degree in Criminal Justice from New York University Graduate School of Law in 1980. In 1981, she became the first female presiding judge of the Jersey City Municipal Court. In 1984, she became the first female appointed to the Superior Court of the State of New Jersey. She regarded as one of her major accomplishments as a judge the fact that she was appointed to the original Coleman Commission, which later became the New Jersey Supreme Court TASK Force on Minorities. Judge Tolentino served on that commission for about 10 years, and was chair of its Sub-Committee on Juvenile Justice. She was also chair of the Committee on Criminal Justice and Minority Defendants. She had also served on the Supreme Court Committee on Criminal Practice. She had been a community activist since her early days as a lawyer and had served on many boards including the Jersey City Hudson County Urban League, St. Peter’s College, St. Aloysius Academy, Hudson County C.Y.O., the Hudson County Girl Scouts Board, and the Visiting Homemakers Board of Hudson County. Her article “The Runaway Train” was published in the National Bar Association magazine, pgs. 20-22, Vol. 12 No.5, November/December 1998. In 1980, she joined the National Association of Women Judges and became its president in 1996-1997. She was a member of the Hudson County Bar, the Garden State Bar, and the American Bar Association. Judge Tolentino most recently served on the board of trustees for the College of Saint Elizabeth and was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from the college in 1980. Judge Tolentino was named in Johnson’s Publications’ “1,000 Successful Blacks.” She was a member of the North Jersey Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, and The Girlfriends-New Jersey Chapter. She had served as the National Parliamentarian from 1998 to 2002. She served another term as Parliamentarian from 2004 to 2006. Judge Tolentino was elected as their National President in May of 2008. Judge Tolentino was also a member of the Links, Inc., another national organization whose purposes are friendship and service. She was also the immediate past president of the North Jersey Chapter of Links. Inc. She was also a Jersey Journal Woman of Achievement and received the Whitney M. Young Award from the Hudson City Urban League, and had received many other awards from organizations, schools, and colleges too numerous to mention. She had also served as the grand marshal of the Martin Luther King Jr. Parade. She was the wife of Dr. Ernesto Tolentino; the mother of Ana-Ramona Tolentino and Candida Tolentino; the grandmother of Ramon Tolentino Flowers; the aunt of Lisa K. Cohen and Robert Perry; and the relative and friend of many more. A charitable foundation has been set up in her name to benefit law students in need of scholarships. In lieu of flowers, donations of any size may be sent to the Hudson County Bar Foundation, c/o Patricia Moseley, in honor of Judge Tolentino. Services arranged by Jackson Funeral Residence of Jersey City.