UNITED STATES COURT REPORTERS ASSOCIATION

Sharon B. Borden - President Sharon's Bio   600 Granby #217 Norfolk, VA 23510 Office (757) 222-7072 Fax (757) 640-1207

Kathleen M. Wirt  - President-Elect Katie's Bio 400 E. 9th Street, Suite 7452 Kansas City, MO 64106 Phone  (816) 512-5608 Fax   (816) 512-5688

Patty Artrip Gels - Vice President Patty's Bio U. S. Courthouse, Room 4800-C 333 Constitution Avenue, NW  Washington, DC 20001 Office (202) 962-0200

Theodore M. Formaroli - Secretary/Treasurer Ted's Bio 401 Market Street, Box 588 Camden, NJ 08101 Office (856) 757-5020

JoAnn Bacheller - Immediate Past President JoAnn's Bio 316 North 26th Street, Room 5027 Billings, MT 59103 Office (406) 247-4477 Fax (406) 655-9042

 

Sharon B. Borden - President

PROFESSIONAL BACKGROUND:   I started court reporting upon graduation from the Virginia Stenotype Institute in October 1974. My freelance career consisted of 20 years with the same freelance firm in Norfolk, Virginia, with emphasis in medical malpractice and product liability, as well as the criminal court my last ten years. I came to U. S. District Court in July of 1992. While in the freelance sector, I served as Vice President and then on the board of directors for several years of the Virginia Court Reporters Association. I also served for many years as the Chief Examiner for the NCRA testing in Virginia Beach, VA. I hold the RPR, RMR, and FCRR certifications. I joined the USCRA board in April of 1999 as Fourth Circuit Representative, coming on board as Secretary-Treasurer in October of 2003. I’ve enjoyed working on several USCRA committees, as well as working registration for our conventions. I love the camaraderie and all of the personal contact with our members. PERSONAL BACKGROUND:   I have lived in Virginia Beach, Virginia, for most of my life, having lived here and there with my dad in the Navy. Upon graduation from high school in 1970, I attended airline school. Upon completion of that, while awaiting a security clearance to begin work with the CIA in McLean, VA. I discovered court reporting, and here I am to this day. I’ve been married to Glen Borden for 32 years. We have two wonderful children, a 30-year-old son, Jason, and a 23-year-old daughter, Jodi, who graduated from college, married, and moved to Montana last year. I have two precious grandchildren by my son and his wife, Gavin Edwin, 3, and Aniston Lyn, eight weeks. They are the love of my life! I am very active in my church choir and love traveling, snow skiing, rafting, boating, scrap booking and reading. I don’t know how I find the time to be in court everyday!   Back to Top

       
 

Kathleen M. Wirt - President-Elect

PROFESSIONAL BACKGROUND: I’ve been a court reporter since graduating from reporting school at the American Institute of Business in February of 1984. My first job was as a freelance reporter for a small agency in Lexington, Kentucky. I decided that freelancing wasn’t for me, so the following year I moved back to the Midwest to take a job as an official court reporter in Kansas state court at Fort Scott, Kansas. In 1989 I made yet another move to Columbia, Missouri, to further my career by taking a job in Missouri state court. Finally, in October of 1995 I seized an opportunity to come to Kansas City to work in federal court for the Honorable D. Brook Bartlett. I’ve been a federal official here in the Western District of Missouri at Kansas City ever since then, and I am presently assigned to the Honorable Nanette K. Laughrey.   While working in Missouri state court, I served as a Regional Vice-President for the Missouri Court Reporters Association. In that capacity, I planned the 1994 Annual Convention for MCRA. I first came onto the USCRA board in October of 1997 as Eighth Circuit Representative, and since that time I have moved up to the Executive Committee and have served at least one term in each officer position. I’ve also been involved in several USCRA committees, but I’m proudest of my work on the CM/ECF Committee and the Realtime Issues Committee. PERSONAL BACKGROUND: I grew up on a farm in southeast Iowa, and I’m a product of the Mediapolis High School in Mediapolis, Iowa. I enjoy hiking and have hiked into the Grand Canyon on three occasions. I also like to travel, and I have a vintage convertible that is fun to drive with the top down on a nice day. I also enjoy gardening and home improvement.  Back to Top

    
 

Patty Artrip Gels - Vice President

I grew up in Springfield, Ohio, graduating from Springfield North High School. After high school I attended and graduated from Otterbein College in Westerville, Ohio, with a Bachelor’s Degree, Major in English. Upon graduation, I found it difficult to obtain a job that I liked and decided to go to Court Reporting school. I obtained an Associate’s Degree in Business with a major in Court Reporting from Clark State University back in my hometown of Springfield. I received my RPR and RMR shortly thereafter. My first reporting job was in Columbus as a freelance reporter. I then married and moved to Boston where I was an Official with the Superior Court in Boston. Circumstances brought me back to Ohio where I owned my own reporting firm for twenty years in Cincinnati. In 2001, my daughters and I relocated to Washington, D.C. which has been one of the best things that has ever happened to us. I was offered the position of Official Reporter here in Washington three years ago serving as the Reporter for the Honorable Richard J. Leon. I have been involved with USCRA since that time. I attended the USCRA Convention in Key West where I took the realtime certification test and received the FCRR. I also met some of the nicest and professional people there and made the decision to become more involved in USCRA. I thereafter served as the Circuit Representative for the District of Columbia for one year. I also have been a continuous member of NCRA since graduation from reporting school and presently serve on their Officials Community of Interest Committee, I live in Old Town Fairfax, Virginia, which is a suburb of Washington, D.C. with my two daughters Ashley and Alexandra who attend college in Northern Virginia. My hobbies include gardening and antiques. I look forward to serving as your Vice President.   Back to Top

 
 

Theodore M. Formaroli - Secretary/Treasurer

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JoAnn C. Bacheller - Immediate Past President

JoAnn Corson Bacheller grew up in Kansas, graduating from Wyandotte High School in Kansas City in 1972, from Washburn University in Topeka in 1976, and from Clark School of Business in Topeka in 1977. With "Go West, Young Woman" ringing in her ears, JoAnn drove her yellow VW bug to Billings, Montana, in the fall of 1977 and began working as Billings' first freelance reporter. She officed at that time with a federal official reporter and learned at an impressionable age that a federal officialship is the pinnacle of reporting careers. It was 22 years later, when that reporter retired, that JoAnn stopped freelancing and became a federal official reporter. In that 22 years, she earned the Kansas CSR, the NCRA RPR, RMR, RDR, and CRR designations; she served a one-year term as the Montana Court Reporters Association’s president and was awarded its Distinguished Service Award. JoAnn works in Billings, Montana for the Hon. Richard F. Cebull. In the fall of 2004, she was nominated by Judge Cebull and awarded the District of Montana’s Special Achievement Award in recognition of her outstanding service to the district for demonstrating continued excellence in professional skills, selfless attitude, and collaboration with colleagues in the courtroom. It is with great pleasure and the promise of camraderie that JoAnn looks forward to many future years of participation in USCRA.   Back to Top