Alan Jay Couch

The Honorable Alan J. Couch Judge Alan Jay Couch, 67, of Norman, Oklahoma, died Monday, May 19, 2003 in Norman, Oklahoma from complications of a bacterial infection and stroke. Memorial services will be held at 2:00PM, Thursday, May 22, 2003 at First Christian Church, 220 S. Webster, Norman, Oklahoma, with the Reverend David Spain officiating. Assisting will be the Rev. Dianne Kovacs Peters, minister of St. Stephens United Methodist Church, Norman. Services are under the direction of Havenbrook Funeral Home of Norman, Oklahoma. Judge Couch was born on October 17th, 1935 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, to Robert Ray and Billie Mae Bradshaw Couch. He grew up in Bristow, Oklahoma and graduated from Bristow High School. He graduated from Phillips University before completing his studies at the University of Oklahoma School of Law and Oklahoma City University School of Law. Judge Couch was a member of the Oklahoma Bar Association and the Cleveland County Bar Association and served as Associate District Judge of Cleveland County from 1972 until his death. He was chairman of the original Oklahoma Supreme Court Juvenile Justice Oversight Committee for several years and taught and designed programs for judges, attorneys, and court workers across Oklahoma and the United States. Judge Couch previously served on the board of trustees for the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges. He established and assisted in writing legislation to create the Oklahoma Commission on Children and Youth. He received numerous awards and honors for his work, including the Liberty Bell Award from the Oklahoma Bar Association for outstanding contributions to the Administration of Justice. He was one of four founders of the Norman Alcohol and Information Center. He also founded Oklahoma's first Court Appointed Special Advocate program which protects alleged abused and neglected children and the nation's first Divorce Visitation Arbitration program which assists families of divorce. Judge Couch served in the National Guard. He was a Paul Harris Fellow and past President of the Norman Rotary Club. The Couch family were recipients of the first Norman Family of the Year Award in 1978. Judge Couch served as Santa for the residents of the Phil Smalley Children's Center since 1980. In 1996 he received the Norman Human Rights Award. Judge Couch was a proud artist, boasting with good-humor to be more accomplished than his sister, also an artist. He enjoyed working with large canvasses and particularly in the mediums of oils and acrylics. He was a member of First Christian Church in Norman. Judge Couch is preceded in death by this parents. Survivors include his daughter, Tiffany Couch and her mother, Donna of Norman, OK; a sister, Sharon Couch of Bixby, OK; and a granddog Nick. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Bethesda Alternatives, 1181 E. Main St., Norman, OK. 73071, 405-364-0333, Oklahoma's only free-standing, nonprofit comprehensive treatment facility for sexually abused children, which Judge Couch was instrumental in creating. Honorary bearers are the Cleveland County Bar Association. Send condolences online at http:// www.havenbrookfuneralho me.com/Obituaries.html