In her opening remarks, Wheatcraft mentioned the presence of state Superior Court Judge Paula Francisco Ott, who made history as the county’s first elected female judge, and noted that she would now take the bench as the county’s fifth woman elected to that office.

“I am sure I will make my share of mistakes – any attorney you talk to has a story about some judge’s blunder – but I will do my very best to retain a sense of respectful humility and a commitment to do the right thing in every case,” Wheatcraft said in her remarks.

Tunnell, a student of the court’s history, turned to a passage written by the late W.W. MacElree, the former county district attorney and great-grandfather of President Judge James P. MacElree III, in his book, “Side Lights of the Bench and Bar” to explain the ideal qualities of a judge.

“These judges, besides integrity of heart and decency of demeanor, are presumed to possess firmness without obstinacy … knowledge without conceit and judgment without presumption,” Tunnel read. “I resolve as a judge to hold true to (those) ideals.”

Tunnell and Wheatcraft were elected in November to fill two vacancies on the court created by the retirement in 2011 of Judges Thomas Gavin and Ronald Nagle, both of whom had stayed on the bench as senior judges, with reduced case loads and court schedules. The bench now has 13 current and three senior judges.

Both new judges have hit the ground running, taking the bench and hearing cases on Tuesday, a day after taking their formal oaths of office on Monday along with other county elected officials at Wes Chester University.

Wheatcraft will oversee a caseload involving Family Court and civil matters, and on Tuesday heard cases involving divorce matters in Courtroom 17. (As a former prosecutor with the county District Attorney’s Office, she is barred from hearing cases brought to the office when she worked there.)

Tunnell, a former partner in the West Chester law firm of Gawthrop Greenwood, will handle a caseload involving civil and Orphans Court in Courtroom 10. On Tuesday, he oversaw a list involving miscellaneous civil cases.

In introducing Wheatcraft before her oath, West Chester attorney Steven Lagoy recalled meeting her in 2000 when she had returned to Pennsylvania after completing law school in New Hampshire, where her parents lived. He said she was a crew member aboard a sailboat at a county bar association function.

“ My initial impression of her was that she was bright, intelligent, and had a quick wit,” he told the audience. “She understood people and had a good way with them. She regarded her profession as a lawyer very seriously, but she did not take herself too seriously.” In addition, she mentioned wanting someday to be a judge.

“My initial impressions of Ann Marie have all come to be true,” Lagoy continued. “She is a genuinely good person and she will be a credit to our bench.”

Wheatcraft’s two children, Robert, 17, and Maddison, 14, held the Bible while she took the oath, and her parents, Thomas and Betsy Meyer, helped her don the black judicial robe.

Tunnell, who had been a partner with his firm for 25 years, was introduced by his colleague, attorney Robert Adams, who had met Tunnell as a young attorney practicing in Phoenixville and recommended him for the firm.

Adams spoke not only of Tunnell’s legal skills in and out of the courtroom and his high regard for the legal profession, but also of his humor and wit.

He predicted that Tunnell would at some point issue a judicial order “in Iambic pentameter” or composed as a song lyrics, products of his work with various bar association social functions.

Adams called his former partner a legal “generalist.”

“I think that places him in good stead, coming to the court with the breadth of experience he has,” Adams said.

In his remarks, Tunnell recounted the history of the county’s Common Pleas Court, which he said dates back to the time before there was a United States of America or a state of Pennsylvania.

“This is an ancient court,” he said. “There are very few courts sitting today that have anything like this kind of lineage. Call it three and a half centuries.”

Tunnell’s wife of 33 years, Judith Tunnell, held the Bible for him, while his children, son Aaron Tunnell and daughter Hillary Homan, and his grandchildren, Lucy Tunnell and Chase Homan, joined in helping him with his robe.

After donning their legal uniforms, both Wheatcraft and Tunnell climbed the steps to their places on the bench of Courtroom 1 with their new colleagues.

“”It is really a dream come true,” Wheatcraft said. “I have been blessed with this opportunity, and I intend to make the best of it.”