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Johnson County courthouse annual ‘SocKK’ drive honors court reporter who died
Kim Kurth was ‘dedicated and passionate’ about her job but her ‘true love’ was her family, judge says
Dec. 25, 2023 5:00 am, Updated: Dec. 25, 2023 7:43 am
IOWA CITY — Kim Kurth worked in the Johnson County courts for 33 years as a court reporter before retiring in May to spend more time with her husband and two daughters and to be more available as “Gigi” to her 3-year-old grandson.
Kurth, of Anamosa, also decided to retire because she was battling uterine and cervical cancer, which had gone into remission but had reappeared in May.
She died Nov. 5 at age 63.
Her longtime service and dedication to helping others was honored this year in the annual Holiday SocKK Drive at the Johnson County Courthouse. She’d organized the drive when she was working, and this year’s drive, dedicated to her memory, set a record for the number of socks donated.
Only a few of Kurth’s co-workers knew Kurth’s diagnosis when she retired. Her daughters said she didn’t want to leave the job she loved and didn’t want others to think she couldn’t do her job just because she had cancer.
Kurth wanted to be the same person she’d always been and didn’t want anyone to worry about her, according to her daughter, Lacey Fletcher, 35, of Carthage, Mo.
Her other daughter, Laura Gerlach, 28, of Nevada, Iowa, said the family worried about her lugging around her court reporter steno machine, but she insisted she could handle it. Her work kept her going.
“She loved being a court reporter, but I think the cancer made her realize how quickly life can change, and she wanted to do other things,” Fletcher said.
Kurth only had about five months with her loved ones before she died.
Fletcher said it was important to her mother to see her youngest child, Laura, get married in August, which she was able to do. Some were shocked when they learned Kurth had died because the last time they’d seen her was at the wedding and she’d seemed healthy.
Sixth Judicial Associate District Senior Judge Deb Minot said Kurth’s loss was felt at the courthouse. Besides being a meticulous court reporter who was an “outstanding” proofreader, Kurth was committed to helping the kids and people they serve in court.
About all those socks
At the courthouse, Kurth was always the one organizing a toy drive and the annual sock drive.
Minot, usually her assistant in those drives, wanted to dedicate this year’s Holiday SocKK Drive to Kurth, who had been Minot’s court reporter for 13 years.
So far, 667 pairs of socks have been donated. They will be donated to the Domestic Violence Intervention Program in Iowa City. Kurth’s daughters collected another 890 pairs of socks that will be donated to The Shelter House in Iowa City.
They all collected socks for infants, kids, men and women.
Gerlach said the family told friends about the sock drive and then they posted information about the sock drive online, and people started sending them money to buy socks. It became a friendly competition between the sisters to see who could collect the most socks.
Both sisters visited their father before Christmas, and they were hitting all the stores to buy socks.
“I think Kim would have loved it,” Minot said. “Our previous (collection) high was 300.”
‘A special person’
Associate District Judge Jason Burns said Kurth was a “really special person” and he hopes the sock drive continues for many years to come.
Burns, in a letter to court staff after Kurth’s death, said she was dedicated to serving those who come into the courts and treated everyone with respect and kindness.
She was “passionate” about her work, but her “true love was at home with her family,” Burns said. When she talked about her family, her “eyes would light up.”
Minot said she’d known Kurth all of the 33 years she’d been a court reporter. Before Minot was appointed a judge in 2010, she was a defense lawyer and would appear before judges when Kurth was their court reporter.
“She had control in the courtroom,” Minot said. “She would put up her hand to stop attorneys and tell them they needed to slow down or speak up because she had to (type) everything said for the record. She would school the new lawyers. Sometimes, she would call them afterward to explain why it was important.”
When court officials began collecting stuffed beanie baby toys to give to kids who were in juvenile court or in custody cases, Kurth took over making sure the children could select the beanie baby they wanted.
One time, a girl, who had been mistreated, was on the witness stand and denied anything had happened to her. During a break in the trial, Kurth was kind to the girl, and the girl told Kurth she hadn’t been honest because she was scared.
Kurth told her she should be truthful with her lawyer, which she was, and the lawyer had the girl talk to Minot, so she could take action.
‘A perfectionist’
Fletcher said her mom just wanted to make life better for kids.
“She loved court reporting and the people she worked with,” Fletcher said. “And she loved her judges, especially Deb (Minot) and (retired Associate District Judge) Sylvia Lewis.”
Their mother didn’t prod them to follow in her footsteps as a court reporter, but she did have Fletcher proofread her transcripts.
Gerlach recalled how her mom, when her kids were little, would read trial transcripts aloud to them “in a baby voice” because she was doing that work at home in the evenings.
Gerlach also recalls her mom making out her Christmas list on her steno machine because no one in the family could read it except her. It just looked like random words and symbols to them.
“She was a perfectionist,” Fletcher said, “and also pushed others to be the best.”
Comments: (319) 398-8318; trish.mehaffey@thegazette.com
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