Getting married is nerve-wracking enough in your native language.

Monday, August 13, 2001

Getting married is nerve-wracking enough in your native language. Imagine if you couldn’t even understand the ceremony. Thanks to a former Third District Judge, local Spanish-speakers no longer have that problem.

Judge Bill Sturtz has been performing civil wedding ceremonies in Spanish for five years now, officiating at more than 25 ceremonies this year. In most of the weddings he has performed, the bride speaks fluent English but the husband doesn’t. Some are the opposite, and some couples speak hardly any English at all, he said.

&uot;It’s usually one or the other, so sometimes I’m switching back and forth,&uot; he said.

Sturtz has never taken formal classes in Spanish, but has gone on scores of trips to Spanish-speaking countries, including 18 to various parts of Mexico. Through his travels, Sturtz said he has learned to navigate the language fairly well.

Sturtz began performing weddings in Spanish when he was a judge, but didn’t write a formal ceremony in Spanish for a couple of years, he said.

&uot;I began getting a few people up at the courthouse that didn’t speak English,&uot; he said. &uot;The first few I had, I muddled through as best I could, but then I figured if I was going to have that many I had to get something formalized.&uot;

Local translator Griselda Root took one look at it and decided to help him tweak the ceremony a little bit, he said.

Sturtz has since retired from the bench, but still performs weddings. He advertises his services through word of mouth and a flier distributed in the County Courthouse.

&uot;I’m pretty well known in the Hispanic community,&uot; he said. &uot;Because I can speak it a little bit, and I’m also somebody that appreciates the culture.&uot;