SAN ANTONIO — A judge who retired in 2018 from Bexar County at Law #10 has died from injuries sustained in a 2011 head-on crash that killed her sister-in-law instantly.
Judge Karen Crouch was 62 at the time of her passing. She died on Oct. 4 at PAM Health Specialty Hospital of San Antonio.
For more than two decades, Crouch served as a judge, also standing in as a visiting senior judge throughout the state of Texas. “Being a Judge is my profession, but my passion is my family. I am a wife, mother, daughter, and sister who happens to be a full-time judge,” Crouch told reporters in 2017.
About 11 years ago, as she and her sister-in-law, Zyra Flores, were on their way to a Vermont Law School training session on alternate dispute resolution, an 18-year-old incapacitated driver hit their car head on. Official reports say the teen had alcohol and drugs in their system.
Flores was killed upon impact, while Crouch suffered serious injuries after the crash. In an interview with San Antonio reporters, she said, “My knee was blown out and I had fractures on my wrist.” Crouch had to learn to walk again and was crippled with life-threatening internal damage that resulted from the collision.
After retiring from the bench, Crouch frequented the hospital due to those past injuries and had to go through many surgeries.
The community remembers her as being tough, yet fair. She held a firm belief in being of service to her community, something that was shared among her family: husband Gerald Flores and their three children Gerald, Nico and Lilliana.
“Believe in yourself and follow your dreams, and remember your family is your rock,” Judge Karen Crouch would say.
Crouch’s funeral services are in the works.
