On stage or in court, this ’69 graduate shines
Staff writer
Doug Westerhaus credits the Marion school system with helping him become the multifaceted individual he is today.
Having enjoyed a long career in law — including a few years spent as county attorney while his father worked as district judge — he is excited to return home this Old Settlers Day, where he will celebrate his 55th high school reunion and perhaps serenade his classmates with some trombone along the way.
“Because the high school is small, and participation in activities is really required of everyone, the breadth of opportunity in Marion … gives an opportunity that kids in big schools don’t really get,” Westerhaus said.
As a student, he recalls playing trombone at band competitions and acting in school productions of “My Fair Lady” and “Carousel” as some of his favorite memories.
After receiving his law degree from The University of Kansas, Westerhaus moved to Junction City, where he began work with a firm called Harper and Hornbaker.
There, he continued his on-stage exploits, starring as the Cowardly Lion in a production of “The Wizard of Oz” and singing in various choirs as a baritone.
“While also, out of costume, going into court with various people to represent them,” he joked.
Westerhaus handled “something like 30 divorces in the first 30 days” as a fresh-faced lawyer in Junction City.
“It was a great place to learn how to practice law,” he said. “I was the young guy in the firm, so I went over and represented anything that walked through the door.”
His experience on stage aided him in professional life. Acting and singing “prepares you to get out in front of an audience,” Westerhaus said.
He became a proficient public speaker, often lecturing in front of hundreds while working for the real estate company Thorn Americas later in his career.
“It’s all about attitude, about having fun,” he said.
After five years in Junction City, Westerhaus moved back to Marion and successfully ran for county attorney. There, he would work alongside his father, district judge Edwin “Pat” Westerhaus.
Two and a half years later, Doug’s father passed away. But he remembers the experience of working with Pat fondly.
“I would still count that as some of the most fun I’ve had in the practice of law,” he said. “I had the chance to get to know him not just as a parent, but as a lawyer. At the end of the day, we would sit down for 30 minutes and talk with each other about what had come through the door. It was wonderful to learn how my dad’s legal mind worked.”
Westerhaus recalls his father would be surprised at his son’s competence in legal matters.
“He used to lower the glasses on his nose, and he would look over at me, and say, ‘how do you know that?’” Westerhaus said.
It was surprising for Pat to see Doug as a peer after knowing him for so long as a child.
Now with five children of his own, the younger Westerhaus understands the feeling.
His eldest son, John, is a practicing lawyer.
His second-youngest, David, has recently graduated from KU with a degree in cybersecurity. He also plans on going to law school, Doug said.
“It’s daunting for an old man like me. But I think that’s an area of the law which will have so much to do with regulating our society,” Westerhaus said. “I’m excited for him.”
Westerhaus lives in Overland Park but returns to Marion several times a year.
“I love Marion,” he said. “The population changes, of course, but there are still folks there who I grew up knowing. And I love them.”
Asked what has changed about Marion over the years, Westerhaus said it is more difficult to make a living in small-town America today.
“You see the storefronts that are struggling,” he said. “It’s so easy for folks to say, ‘Well, I can get a better deal going to Newton and buying from Wal-Mart.’”
Westerhaus similarly recalls townsfolk as more content back in the ’50s and ’60s.
He has returned for Old Settlers Day multiple times to celebrate his class reunions, sometimes breaking out his trombone to play in the Rube Band.
Old Settlers Day, above all, is a chance for Westerhaus to catch up with those he hasn’t seen in years, or even decades.
“There’s this opportunity in the park to meet people from classes outside your own, who you’ve known your whole life,” he said. “It’s just fantastic.”