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Judge Greene, 50, died Thursday of complications of breast cancer while under hospice care at her Dallas home.

"She's had more life in 50 years than most people have in a hundred," said her husband, John Council of Dallas.

Judge Greene, a Republican, was judge of the 282nd Criminal District Court for 10 years until January, after the Dallas County Democratic sweep of judgeships in the November election.

She was respected for her judicial abilities and the way she dealt with a terminal diagnosis since November 1999.

Judge Greene was "a tremendous, inspiring person ... as courageous as anyone I've ever seen," said Judge Sue Lagarde, retired and sitting by assignment on the 5th District Court of Appeals in Dallas.

Defense lawyer Dan Hagood, a former Dallas County prosecutor, called Judge Greene "probably the sharpest legal mind I've ever met."
Mr. Hagood was a high-ranking prosecutor in the district attorney's office when Judge Greene was a misdemeanor prosecutor. Mr. Hagood said he noticed her talent for the law even then. The two worked on several cases together.

Dallas County prosecutor Damita Jo Sangermano, who oversees the grand jury, worked with Judge Greene when they were both prosecutors in the early 1990s. Ms. Sangermano said the judge was "an excellent prosecutor."

Ms. Sangermano said Judge Greene didn't hesitate to find treatment and help for defendants but didn't falter in seeking tough sentences when a defendant "needed to be taken out of the community."

That was something that carried over to her tenure on the bench, Ms. Sangermano said.

"She was fair," Ms. Sangermano said. "She was fair on sentencing. She was lenient when that was called for and tough when she needed to be."

Born in Pensacola, Fla., Judge Greene grew up in Oak Cliff and graduated from The Hockaday School.

In 1979, she earned a bachelor's degree in Spanish from the University of Texas at Austin and began a 10-year career as a New York-based American Airlines flight attendant, supervisor and manager.

Moment fit for TV

Judge Greene met Jerry Seinfeld at a New York comedy club he was working at in the 1980s while she was a flight attendant, her husband said.

"She was with her pretty flight-attendant friends. ... They dated for years after that," Mr. Council said.

On a date at a piano recital, Mr. Seinfeld put a Pez dispenser on Judge Greene's leg, touching off a giggle that crescendoed into uncontrollable laughter that wrecked the performance. The recital date became a 1992 episode of the hit comedy.

"Karen was the one. ... She actually did that," her husband said.

Mr. Hagood said Judge Greene had a great sense of humor and treated her dogs like her children.

Her marriage, though, was one of the great blessings of her life, Mr. Hagood said.

While Judge Greene was privately known as a fun-loving person, she was all business on the bench, Judge Lagarde said.

"She was a no-nonsense judge," Judge Lagarde said. "She was serious about her work, and she expected everybody else to be serious."

In 1989, Judge Greene left American Airlines and returned to Dallas, where she earned a law degree from Southern Methodist University. She graduated and was admitted to the Texas Bar in 1991.

Judge Greene began her legal career as a briefing attorney for the 5th District Court of Appeals in Dallas, where she was hired by Judge Lagarde.

"She was very, very bright and energetic," Judge Lagarde said. "What impressed me was her work ethic."

Judge Lagarde first noticed Judge Greene while judging her as a student on her way to winning the Jackson Walker Moot Court Competition.

After working for Judge Lagarde on the Court of Appeals, Judge Greene became a Dallas County assistant district attorney in 1992.

In 1995, she became executive director of the Criminal Justice Division for then-Gov. George W. Bush. In 1997, Mr. Bush appointed her to be the state criminal district judge of the 282nd District Court in Dallas.

On Saturday, Mr. Bush called Judge Greene at the hospital to wish her well, shortly before she was sent home to hospice care, Mr. Council said. U.S. Attorney General Al Gonzales called the next day.

Mr. Hagood said Judge Greene was not political and earned her appointment on merit.

Battling cancer

In 1999, Judge Greene was diagnosed as having stage III-b breast cancer, a terminal condition. She left the bench for 10 months of treatment that included a mastectomy, chemotherapy and 33 rounds of radiation.

She then enrolled in a clinical trial at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York in hopes of preventing a reoccurrence of the cancer. Several of her 12 trips to New York were by pilots of the Corporate Angel Network.

Judge Greene returned to the bench and successfully ran for re-election in 2002.

She also became involved with Gilda's Club of North Texas, a national support organization. Judge Greene served on the group's board of directors and was co-leader of a weekly meeting, Engaging the Spirit.

In 2003, Judge Greene was one of seven recipients of Macy's Heart and Soul Awards in honor of her contributions to the battle against breast cancer.

"She battled it as hard as anybody I've ever seen," Judge Lagarde said. "She was determined to beat it. She wasn't one of these people who say, 'Woe is me, I'm a victim,' it wasn't that, it was 'OK, give me the facts and let me deal with them.' "

Judge Greene had served on numerous boards of directors, including the Dallas Youth Services Corps, Texas Lyceum Association and Children's Medical Center Dallas.

Services will be at 1 p.m. Wednesday at Highland Park Presbyterian Church, where she was a member.