Herman Tappert

Tappert, Herman H. age 85 November 19, 2003 Beloved husband of Carol. Loving father of Dr. Tara L. Tappert, Penny (James) Sidick, Wendy (Michael) Schultz, Tod N. Tappert (Jack Gallagher), and Lesly (Gary) Hurford. Also survived by 8 grandchildren. Funeral Service Monday 11:30 am at the D.S. Temrowski & Sons Funeral Home, 30009 Hoover Rd. at Common (12 mile). Visitation Saturday 2-9 pm & Sunday 1-9 pm. Memorial donations appreciated to Grace Bible College, 1011 Aldon Road, Wyoming, MI 49509. Herman Henry Carl Tappert, age 85 , died at his home in Warren November 19, 2003. Mr. Tappert was a pioneer and teacher in the court reporting profession. He was a practicing court reporter for more than 50 years, he began his career in 1947 following his training at the Stenotype Commerical College in Detroit under the tutelage of Elsa Cooper. As a newly minted reporter, Mr. Tapperts first assignment was at the Ford Motor Company, recording business meetings led by Henry Ford II. Following a short stint in Washington, DC with the firms Alderson Reporting and Ward and Paul, Mr. Tappert returned to Detroit and worked for Conley, Whitman, House, & Buckley, from 1948 to 1952. Mr. Tapperts career as an independent businessman and teacher began in 1952 when he opened his own business in partnership with two women, Sophie Hyman and Bernice Gauff. In 1958 Mr. Tappert established Court Reporting Service, a company that became one of Michigans largest free lance court reporting firms in the 1970s. Mr. Tappert was a forerunner in integrating the profession. He successfully challenged the segregation policies of a local court reporting school. He consistently hired African-American reporters, and he regularly responded to requests for a white reporter with diplomatic fairness, commenting that, I will send you the best qualified reporter.. Mr. Tappert sold his partnership interest in Court Reporting Service in 1976. Then in partnership with his wife, Carol, and later his two daughters, Penny Sidick and Lesly Hurford, Mr. Tappert formed Tappert Court Reporting Service, which continues as a second generation business today. In 1960, in addition to managing his growing free lance court reporting firm, Mr. Tappert accepted an appointment from the Honorable Judge Fred Kaess as a U.S. Official Court Reporter of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, Southern Division-Detroit. When Judge Kaess became Chief Judge, Mr. Tappert was designated the Chief Reporter of the Eastern District, and he fulfilled the same responsibilities and duties as the position of court reporter supervisor. Following Judge Kaess's retirement Mr. Tappert continued his appointment with the Honorable Cornelia Kennedy, and in 1981, when the Honorable Avern Cohn was appointed to the bench, Mr. Tappert was selected as his court reporter, because he maintained the highest standards of verbatim reporting, offered quality services, held high professional ethics, and believed in the ideals of the judicial system. Mr. Tappert served as Judge Cohn's court reporter until his retirement from the Federal Court System in 1996. Throughout his career Mr. Tappert was a member of several professional and service organizations -The Michigan Association of Professional Court Reporters (MAPCR) , The National Court Reporters Association (NCRA) , The United States Court Reporters Association (USCRA) , and The American Legion. He was elected President of the Michigan Shorthand Reporters Association in the late 1950s, and was 6th Circuit Representative of the United States Court Reporters Association in the mid-1980s. Mr. Tappert further served his profession by teaching court reporting at the Elsa Cooper School of Court Reporting. Margaret Lewis, a former official court reporter of the U.S. District Court, remembered Mr. Tappert as an inspiring, tireless teacher. "He had the confidence in me to hire me when I was only 18 and too young to be a notary, so he would show up for depositions, swear in the person and leave me to report the deposition. And when I'd give him a transcript, he'd read it over in the evening and return it in the morning marked up for corrections. He was a man of high expectations. He was my mentor, a person who cared enough to help me perfect my skills." Cheryl Warren-Daniel, a reporter for U.S. Circuit Court Judge Denise Page Hood, added that Mr. Tappert "opened doors for many court reporters who were hired into the federal system and other courts by training them and allowing them the opportunity to prove themselves when no one else would." Highlights of Mr. Tappert's career include transcribing presidential hopeful Richard Nixon during the Republican convention in 1961, reporting the grand jury proceedings surrounding the mysterious disappearance of Jimmy Hoffa in 1974, and transcribing the American Legion conventions since the early 1970s until his full retirement in 2001. In addition to Mr. Tappert's professional accomplishments he pursued and earned Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Sociology in the late 1970s and early 1980s from Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan. He served on the Board and was its Chairman at Grace Bible College, Grand Rapids, Michigan from the mid-1960s to the late 1970s, and he was an usher and active member of Men of the Kirk, Kirk-in-the-Hills Presbyterian Church, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, from the early 1980s to the late 1990s. His avocational interests included playing the clarinet and saxophone, listening to early styles of jazz, and traveling throughout the country with his family in a motor home. Mr. Tappert was born in Des Moines, Iowa on July 28, 1918, the youngest son of Helen A.M. (nee: Jennett) Tappert and Herman Henry Tappert. Raised in Detroit, Michigan, Mr. Tappert graduated from Cooley High School in Detroit, served as an MP in the Army during WWII ( he was stationed in Hawaii), and married Carol Louise Zannoth of Detroit on August 8, 1947. The marriage produced five loving children and eight grandchildren. Mr. Tappert left an indelible mark on his profession, but yet a greater mark of love on his family, who loved and cherished him.