MAQUOKETA, Iowa — As more women fill high-level leadership positions across the country, the same can be said in the Quad Cities area.
A ceremony held at the Jackson County Courthouse on Friday, Sept. 9, celebrated the first female chief judge named to Iowa courts, Bobbi Alpers, with a special portrait.
"Judge Alpers broke new ground for women in the Iowa judiciary," Iowa Judicial District 7 Senior District Court Judge Mark Cleve said. "She will forever be known as the first female appointed chief judge in the state of Iowa."
She spent more than 20 years as a judge and seven as chief throughout eastern Iowa.
"I know she was very well respected across the state as the chief judge," Iowa Judicial District 7 District Court Judge Henry Latham said.
Born in Vinton, Iowa on Sept. 10, 1951, Alpers taught high school English in Pleasant Valley before practicing law.
Alpers died in 2020 at age 69 from complications related to Alzheimer's. She is survived by her husband, sister and brother.
"She was thoughtful, compassionate and decisive when required," Cleve said. "Quite frequently, she was the smartest person in the room and often, the wisest as well. Underneath it all, Bobbi was simply a first-class human being."
"It would be compassion for those who came before her and really giving those people in the courtroom the feeling that they were being heard," Latham said.