Appeals Court to honor late Judge Cliff Ahrens in special session

The Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District, is holding a special session of the court en banc in memory of the late Judge Cliff H. Ahrens.

The special session will be held at 11 a.m. Friday, Oct. 3, at the Old Post Office in St. Louis. Ahren served as judge for the Eastern District from 1991 until his retirement in 2015. He died May 22, 2024, in Hannibal.

Kathianne K. Crane, Matthew S. McBride, Douglas R. Bader and Ann Ahrens Beck are the invited speakers. Judge Robert M. Clayton III will serve as master of ceremonies.

Ahrens, who graduated from Hannibal Public Schools, earned his undergraduate degree and law degree at the University of Missouri. He worked in private practice in Hannibal for 21 years, until he was appointed by former Gov. John Ashcroft in February 1991 to the Court of Appeals

Voters retained Ahrens in 1992 and again in 2004, until his retirement in 2015. He continued to serve as a senior judge in retirement until 2022.

Ahrens was actively involved in statewide court automation efforts and in the legal community as a whole. He served as a member of the Missouri Judicial Records Committee, the 10th Judicial Circuit Bar Association, The Missouri Bar, the Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis and the American Bar Association. He volunteered for numerous civil organizations and boards, including the Hannibal Planning Commission, the board of directors for the Children’s Trust Fund of Missouri, the St. Louis City-St. Louis County board of electors and many others.

He is survived by his wife, Kimberly Ahrens; his three children, C. Todd Ahrens, Joseph Ahrens and Ann Ahrens Beck; and his nine grandchildren, Nathan, Annaliese, Ainsley, Chandler, Luke, Sorush, Samir, Lily and Camden.