Kathy Dean This is Me

 Web References

1. 1. Assistant registrar retires

   www.gazettenet.com/09292003/ne - [Cached]

   Published on: 9/29/2003   Last Visited: 9/30/2003

   Kathy Dean
   ...
   Monday, September 29, 2003 -- NORTHAMPTON - Today is the first day in more than 40 years that Kathy Dean hasn't been a court employee. And those who worked with her say that she won't be easy to replace.
   
   The second assistant registrar at Hampshire County Probate and Family Court said goodbye to lawyers, clerks, judges and others who turned out for her retirement party Friday - her last day - just outside the office she helped run since 1963.
   
   Judge Gail Perlman, who oversees Hampshire County Probate and Family Court, said Dean's "competence and courtesy ... is almost legendary."
   ...
   "Kathy is the epitome of what a public employee should be," said Robert Czelusniak, the former registrar of the court.
   ...
   Dean, 57, who now lives in Easthampton, came to work in the court straight out of St. Michael's High School in Northampton. At the time, she was one of three people in the office. Today, partly because of the increase in divorces and paternity cases the court handles, about 25 people are on staff.
   
   Dean's duties have included scheduling trials and appeals and handling adoptions. "She's the point guard of the probate court," said Registrar of Probate David Sullivan.
   
   Dean has mentored just about every attorney, including Sullivan, who have passed through probate court, he said. "She's the attorney's best friend," Sullivan said.
   
   Dean is especially well-known for her ability to stay cool and collected in tough situations. "Kathy Dean was always the calm in the storm, Sullivan said.
   ...
   First Justice Sean Dunphy, who heads the state's probate courts and worked in Northampton for years, said Dean "doesn't have any rough edges."
   
   "I don't think there's anything that's contributed more to the public's confidence in court than to see her when they first walk in," he said.
   
   Dean said she is going to miss her co-workers terribly.
   
   "This has been like my second family for over 40 years," she said.