‘Selfless’ Cook County assistant public defender dies
A tireless advocate for indigent clients who colleagues affectionately dubbed “bulldog,” Cook County Assistant Public Defender Kathy Ward died Monday after a long illness.
The petite, energetic, 61-year-old Palatine resident leaves behind her husband, Larry, and their 24-year-old son, Kris.
“She always did more than she needed to, always. A real champion is lost,” said Cook County Assistant Public Defender Salvatore Spaccaferro, a longtime friend and colleague.
Even after being diagnosed with cancer, Ward carried a full caseload, never once asked for a lighter one and frequently offered to assist her colleagues, said Spaccaferro, whose family spent holidays with Ward and her family.
Tenacious is how Cook County Judge Kay Hanlon described the Alliance, Neb., native who grew up on a farm, rode a horse almost before she could walk and had a passion for gardening.
“She fought for what she thought was right. She didn’t back down. She really did believe in the system,” Hanlon said.
A 22-year veteran of the public defender’s office, Ward spent the last decade at the Rolling Meadows courthouse where she represented clients in misdemeanor and bond courts and served as representative to the drug and veterans courts, said her supervisor, Cook County Assistant Public Defender Scott Slonim. “She embodied the spirit of what it means to be a public defender,” said Slonim, adding Rolling Meadows’ tight-knit public defender’s office is devastated by her loss.
Cook County Judge Thomas Fecarotta praised Ward as a role model for young assistant public defenders, saying “she was a wonderful example of dedication in the public defender’s office. She’ll be greatly missed.”
Ward attended Nebraska’s Kearney State College for two years before leaving in summer 1971 to serve as a youth counselor on a Lutheran Church mission in Canada, where she met her husband, Larry. They married in 1974, the same year she graduated with a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Ontario’s Wilfrid Laurier University.
Ward worked as a paralegal, and in 1986, after the couple relocated to Texas for Larry Ward’s job, she enrolled in Baylor University Law School. During her third year, another job transfer brought the family to Palatine. She transferred to the John Marshall Law School, graduated in 1990, and went to work for the public defender’s office.
Her husband of nearly 40 years described his wife as “selfless,” devoting herself to him, their son and her clients.
“She had no interest in entering law for the money. She wanted to do something to help people,” Larry Ward.
From her hospital bed, Kathy called colleagues to check on her cases, he said. “If she could have crawled into work she would have. She was so concerned.”
“Kathy always followed up,” said Cook County Assistant Public Defender Camille Kozlowski, Skokie division chief and Ward’s supervisor in the Chicago branch courts, who recalls Ward tracking down birth certificates from around the country for juvenile clients.
“I called her the little tornado. She could move faster than anybody,” said Kozlowski, adding, “she was always kind, especially to clients.”
Ward’s funeral takes place next week in Nebraska. Visitation is from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, July 14, at Smith-Corcoran Funeral Home, 185 E. Northwest Hwy., Palatine.