HDRA Member Memorial Wall
In remembrance of significant members who passed, HDRA (Formerly Heartland Mediators Association HMA) created a Memorial Wall. Our members who wish to nominate an individual for inclusion on the wall should submit a short biography, including dates of birth, death, and home location, describing the individual’s contribution to Alternative Dispute Resolution within the region. If possible, a picture of the nominee should be attached.
The Board of Directors shall evaluate each nominee for their service to the community, impact on the field of alternative dispute resolution, and contribution in furthering community and practitioner education. Upon approval by the Board the nominee will be enrolled in the Memorial Wall section on the HDRA website.
Roxanne Emmert-Davis
1946-2023
Roxanne grew up in Fairview KS and attended Fairview High School. She kept in touch with her classmates that were life-long friendships. Those relationships brought her great joy, and she often stressed the importance of a well-rounded, friend-filled life. She often talked about the joys of growing up in a small town.
Roxanne was a mediator and child welfare educator in private practice in Topeka, Kansas. In her long career she served as a social wok supervisor for family preservation and foster care providers. She was a training coordinator for staff in a private child welfare agency and was a child welfare educator for social work professionals in Kansas. In 1987 Roxanne was instrumental in getting the Kansas Supreme Court to approve a specific mediation category called parent/adolescent mediation. That category has now been in place for twenty-seven years. The Supreme Court then appointed her to serve on the Kansas Advisory Council on Dispute Resolution to help improve dispute resolution in the state. She was well liked by those who served her on this Council. She was known for her steadiness, calmness, and vision for how to help families in the state to resolve conflict.
Throughout her career she trained and mentored countless mediators in Kansas and other states. She was often a presenter at numerous state and national conferences. She was approved as a mediator and mentor by the Supreme Court. Her training and experience included parent adolescent mediation, family group decision making, issues of adolescence, peer mediation, conflict management, facilitation and team building.
She was past president of Heartland Mediators Association and a former member of the Kansas Dispute Resolution Advisory Committee of the Office of Judicial Administration. She co-authored the Facilitator Guides and Teen and Parent Versions for Choices, a workshop series for pre-teens. She also co-authored a workbook for the management of conflict in the workplace.
Who Will Protect the Children?
Gary Bruce Kretchmer
Gary became one of a small group of pioneers that introduced family mediation to the Johnson County court system and to the State of Kansas. The current Johnson County court services program has grown into one of the most successful court-ordered mediation programs in the nation. As a peacemaker, a professional mediator, Gary filled a unique role in our community. Over a nearly 35+ year career, he quietly and confidentially helped tens of thousands of divorcing Johnson County families avoid destructive and expensive litigation by resolving their child custody disputes in his office and not in a courtroom. He was one of the first on the Kansas Supreme Court’s Advisory Council on Dispute Resolution which helped draft and implement rules and procedures. The Kansas Bar Association asked him to help develop and implement one of the first domestic mediation training sessions in Kansas. He went on to help train many successful domestic mediators in Kansas and the region. Families in Johnson County and the state can thank a good man for the generous service he provided. Overland Park, KS DOB: October 31,1946 DOD: December 29, 2020