And that was true even when Cady was working his first job out of law school as a law clerk in Fort Dodge, Kenyon explained during a Celebration of Life for Cady Wednesday morning at the Drake University Knapp Center.

Cady, who was the chief justice of the Iowa Supreme Court, died last Friday after suffering a heart attack. He was 66.

“During a high-profile jury trial, he observed one of the lawyers, arguably the leading trial lawyer at the time, get on an elevator with the jurors,” Kenyon said. “This is absolutely forbidden.”

Some people may have stayed quiet. But Cady informed the judge of the violation, Kenyon said.

-Messenger photo by Chad Thompson
Albert Habhab, a former Fort Dodge mayor who later became the chief judge of the Iowa Court of Appeals, right, greets a guest during the Celebration of Life for Iowa Supreme Court Chief Justice Mark Cady Wenesday morning at the Drake University Knapp Center.

“The attorney challenged Mark, essentially threatening to end his career before it began,” Kenyon said. “Mark being Mark — did not back down. The judge declared a mistrial.”

That exchange took place almost 40 years ago.

“It was just one of the countless times he faced a question head on and changed something,” Kenyon said.

Chief District Court Judge Kurt Wilke said prior to the ceremony that everything he’s read about Cady is true.

“He was a good listener,” said Wilke, who has known Cady since 1979. “Very patient. Thoughtful. Very fair in everything he did. He was an exceptional individual as far as I’m concerned. And a good friend — to everybody. He was a good friend to everybody he met.”

-Messenger photo by Chad Thompson
Richard Stephenson, who was Mark Cady’s neighbor in Des Moines, looks at one of the video boards that showed pictures of Cady during a Celebration of Life ceremony Wednesday morning at the Drake University Knapp Center. Hundreds of people attended to pay their respects to Cady.

Wilke recalled joking with Cady as he continued to progress in his career.

“It was a meteoric rise in his career,” Wilke said. “Being a district associate judge when he was 29, that’s quite a deal. I told him, ‘I’m going to so many of your swearing in ceremonies, you have more swearing in ceremonies than I change my socks.’ We laughed about that because he moved up in a hurry.”

Cady, born in Rapid City, South Dakota, was appointed a district associate judge in 1983 and a district court judge in 1986. In 1994, he was appointed to the Iowa Court of Appeals.

He was elected chief judge of the Court of Appeals in 1997. The following year he was named to the state Supreme Court.

Cady had served on the Supreme Court since 1998 and was elected chief justice by his fellow justices in 2011.

Fort Dodge attorney Jerry Schnurr, met Cady in 1986. Cady was a district court judge at that time.

“I had cases in front of him,” Schnurr said. “Socially I got to know him. His son, Spencer, and my son, Will, grew up together. So we then got to see each other as our kids grew up. We got to know each other on the sidelines of soccer games, football games, baseball games. It’s been a great journey and we are sorry to see Mark go.”

Schnurr said Cady was passionate about sports, especially Fort Dodge Dodger athletics.

“He would get excited at football games,” Schnurr said. “Our kids played football together for the Dodgers and he was always excited about what the Dodgers were doing when they were playing. He was a big fan of his kids and of the Dodgers as a whole. And whenever you talked to him, he would take an interest in you. He would always ask about my son and we would talk about his son. He always lit up when he got to talk about his family.”

Marsha Ternus, former chief justice of the Iowa Supreme Court, described Cady as “tireless” in his work.

“He wanted all Iowans to know how the courts operate and know that the courts are here for them,” Ternus said. “That is why Mark became the first chief justice to regularly take the Supreme Court on the road, hearing oral arguments in schools and city council chambers across Iowa. It was also during Mark’s tenure as chief justice that the court established the Iowa Access to Justice Commission.”

Of all the opinions Cady wrote while on the bench, his 2009 opinion in the case of Varnum v. Brien which legalized same sex marriage in Iowa, gained the most public attention.

Ternus said Cady was fair to all.

“Mark was a champion of juvenile justice reform,” she said. “He was particularly distressed by and took steps to address the disproportionate minority representation in both Iowa’s juvenile and adult criminal justice system.”

Ternus said Cady inspired her.

“Witnessing Mark’s demeanor on the bench caused me to moderate my own approach in oral argument,” she said. “In addition to his judicial temperament and commitment to his rule of law, Mark exhibited compassion for all who appeared before the courts, regardless of their age, race, wealth, power, or lack of wealth or power. He treated them all fairly and impartially.”

Richard Stephenson, one of Cady’s neighbors in downtown Des Moines, couldn’t help but smile as he looked up to the video board that showed pictures of Cady throughout his life.

“He would come home at noon to walk his dog, Lucy,” Stephenson recalled. “And he would take time to talk to everyone. He was a wonderful man.”

Stephenson’s wife, Karen, concurred.

“He always had a smile,” she said. “He was so pleasant.”

Nathan Hecht, chief justice of the Supreme Court of Texas, said Cady brought honor to the position.

Fort Dodge attorney Mark Brownlee said despite how busy he was in his career, Cady still made time for his family.

“He was a fixture at Kelsi and Spencer’s activities, splitting time between Des Moines and Fort Dodge,” Brownlee said.

Brownlee described two traits to the audience. And he said Cady possessed both.

“Greatness and goodness are different things,” Brownlee said. “Greatness is grand and outward, largely reflective of how a person’s deeds are perceived from the outside. Goodness is mostly internal — what is inside a person. The instincts and inner voice which guide a person’s life. Mark Cady was both great and good.”