Second District Juvenile Court Judge Kathleen M. Nelson died Tuesday morning from injuries suffered in a fall Saturday morning.
Nelson, 58, who sat as a judge in both Weber and Davis counties, was appointed to the juvenile court in November 1998 by Gov. Mike Leavitt.
At the time of her death, she was the presiding judge of the 2nd District Juvenile Court.
Courts spokeswoman Nancy Volmer said sitting judges from the 1st and 3rd districts, as well as senior judges, will help handle Nelson’s cases. Volmer did not release details about how the judge fell.
Trial Court Executive Beani Martinez said Nelson was dedicated to helping children and their families and was always willing to try new things.
“She was really willing to pilot programs,” Martinez said, noting that Nelson had started the Weber County Family Drug Court and Delinquency Court, and also initiated a mentoring program to help older children transition into adult life.
On a personal level, Martinez called Nelson “a classy, classy woman” who cared deeply for her staff and knew them well enough to bring small gifts that appealed to their particular tastes.
“She would bring tea to someone who liked tea and specialty coffee to someone who liked coffee,” Martinez said. “She brought me veggie tamales, because she knew I liked those.”
Nelson, who received her law degree from the University of Utah, was an attorney in the 2nd District Court’s Guardian ad Litem Office at the time of her appointment to the bench.
Prior to that she was a sole practitioner from 1985 to 1994, and was an attorney with the law firm Diumenti, Harward & Nelson from 1976 to 1985.
She was a member of the Board of Juvenile Court Judges and served on the Court Facilities Planning Committee, Alternative Dispute Resolution Committee, and the Children and Family Law Committee.
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