Dale E. Saffels, was born Aug. 13, 1921, in Moline,Kansas, the son of Edwin Clayton and Lillian May Cook Saffels.
He graduated from Moline High School in 1939 and from Kansas State Teachers College in Emporia. He earned his law degree from the Washburn University School of Law.
He volunteered for the Army in 1942, during World War II and was sworn-in on his twenty-first birthday. On February 19, 1943, Saffels was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Army Signal Corps. Saffels commanded the 1373rd Signal Company in the European Theater of Operations and achieved the rank of major by the time of his discharge in 1946.
He was a member of Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, holding offices in the local, state and national levels.
He was a fellow of the American Bar Foundation and Wichita Bar Foundation and a member of the American Judicature Society, American Bar Association, Kansas Bar Association and the Wichita Bar Association.
Saffels was also a member of the Delta Theta Phi and Phi Sigma Kappa fraternities.
He was honored as a 1974 distinguished alumnus of Emporia State University, the 1983 Alumnus of the Year for Washburn Law School and received the Distinguished Service Award from the Washburn Law School Association in 1987.
In 1943, he married Winona R. Vahsholtz, and they had three children. They later divorced ,and he married Margaret Elaine Cowger Deiter in 1976.
Saffels was in private practice in Garden City, Kansas from 1949 to 1979. A strong Democrat, he was elected Finney County in 1950 and reelected in 1952, serving from 1951 to 1955. In 1954, Saffels defeated an incumbent Republican to win a Kansas House of Representatives seat. He was reelected four times, serving from 1955-1963, and was minority leader from 1961 to 1963. Saffels ran for governor of Kansas in 1962 against the incumbent, John Anderson, Jr.
He was Senior United States District Judge, appointed in 1979 by Jimmy Carter. He also served as county attorney for Finney County, four terms in the Kansas House of Representatives, including a stint as democratic leader of the House, chairman of the Kansas Corporation Commission and member of a private practice.
Judge Dale Emerson Saffels died 2002Thursday, Nov. 14, at Midland Hospice House in Topeka, Kansas.
He is survived by his second wife; daughters, Suzanne Dale Gravitt, Virginia Beach, Va.; and Deborah S. Godowns, Leawood; a son, Jim Bradford Saffels, Overland Park; a stepson, Chris Nieman Cowger, Topeka; a stepdaughter, Lynda C. Harris, Dallas, 11 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
Services will be at 11 a.m. Monday at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Topeka. A private family burial will take place Tuesday in Moline.
He graduated from Moline High School in 1939 and from Kansas State Teachers College in Emporia. He earned his law degree from the Washburn University School of Law.
He volunteered for the Army in 1942, during World War II and was sworn-in on his twenty-first birthday. On February 19, 1943, Saffels was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Army Signal Corps. Saffels commanded the 1373rd Signal Company in the European Theater of Operations and achieved the rank of major by the time of his discharge in 1946.
He was a member of Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, holding offices in the local, state and national levels.
He was a fellow of the American Bar Foundation and Wichita Bar Foundation and a member of the American Judicature Society, American Bar Association, Kansas Bar Association and the Wichita Bar Association.
Saffels was also a member of the Delta Theta Phi and Phi Sigma Kappa fraternities.
He was honored as a 1974 distinguished alumnus of Emporia State University, the 1983 Alumnus of the Year for Washburn Law School and received the Distinguished Service Award from the Washburn Law School Association in 1987.
In 1943, he married Winona R. Vahsholtz, and they had three children. They later divorced ,and he married Margaret Elaine Cowger Deiter in 1976.
Saffels was in private practice in Garden City, Kansas from 1949 to 1979. A strong Democrat, he was elected Finney County in 1950 and reelected in 1952, serving from 1951 to 1955. In 1954, Saffels defeated an incumbent Republican to win a Kansas House of Representatives seat. He was reelected four times, serving from 1955-1963, and was minority leader from 1961 to 1963. Saffels ran for governor of Kansas in 1962 against the incumbent, John Anderson, Jr.
He was Senior United States District Judge, appointed in 1979 by Jimmy Carter. He also served as county attorney for Finney County, four terms in the Kansas House of Representatives, including a stint as democratic leader of the House, chairman of the Kansas Corporation Commission and member of a private practice.
Judge Dale Emerson Saffels died 2002Thursday, Nov. 14, at Midland Hospice House in Topeka, Kansas.
He is survived by his second wife; daughters, Suzanne Dale Gravitt, Virginia Beach, Va.; and Deborah S. Godowns, Leawood; a son, Jim Bradford Saffels, Overland Park; a stepson, Chris Nieman Cowger, Topeka; a stepdaughter, Lynda C. Harris, Dallas, 11 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
Services will be at 11 a.m. Monday at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Topeka. A private family burial will take place Tuesday in Moline.
Dale E. Saffels, was born Aug. 13, 1921, in Moline,Kansas, the son of Edwin Clayton and Lillian May Cook Saffels.
He graduated from Moline High School in 1939 and from Kansas State Teachers College in Emporia. He earned his law degree from the Washburn University School of Law.
He volunteered for the Army in 1942, during World War II and was sworn-in on his twenty-first birthday. On February 19, 1943, Saffels was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Army Signal Corps. Saffels commanded the 1373rd Signal Company in the European Theater of Operations and achieved the rank of major by the time of his discharge in 1946.
He was a member of Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, holding offices in the local, state and national levels.
He was a fellow of the American Bar Foundation and Wichita Bar Foundation and a member of the American Judicature Society, American Bar Association, Kansas Bar Association and the Wichita Bar Association.
Saffels was also a member of the Delta Theta Phi and Phi Sigma Kappa fraternities.
He was honored as a 1974 distinguished alumnus of Emporia State University, the 1983 Alumnus of the Year for Washburn Law School and received the Distinguished Service Award from the Washburn Law School Association in 1987.
In 1943, he married Winona R. Vahsholtz, and they had three children. They later divorced ,and he married Margaret Elaine Cowger Deiter in 1976.
Saffels was in private practice in Garden City, Kansas from 1949 to 1979. A strong Democrat, he was elected Finney County in 1950 and reelected in 1952, serving from 1951 to 1955. In 1954, Saffels defeated an incumbent Republican to win a Kansas House of Representatives seat. He was reelected four times, serving from 1955-1963, and was minority leader from 1961 to 1963. Saffels ran for governor of Kansas in 1962 against the incumbent, John Anderson, Jr.
He was Senior United States District Judge, appointed in 1979 by Jimmy Carter. He also served as county attorney for Finney County, four terms in the Kansas House of Representatives, including a stint as democratic leader of the House, chairman of the Kansas Corporation Commission and member of a private practice.
Judge Dale Emerson Saffels died 2002Thursday, Nov. 14, at Midland Hospice House in Topeka, Kansas.
He is survived by his second wife; daughters, Suzanne Dale Gravitt, Virginia Beach, Va.; and Deborah S. Godowns, Leawood; a son, Jim Bradford Saffels, Overland Park; a stepson, Chris Nieman Cowger, Topeka; a stepdaughter, Lynda C. Harris, Dallas, 11 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
Services will be at 11 a.m. Monday at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Topeka. A private family burial will take place Tuesday in Moline.
He graduated from Moline High School in 1939 and from Kansas State Teachers College in Emporia. He earned his law degree from the Washburn University School of Law.
He volunteered for the Army in 1942, during World War II and was sworn-in on his twenty-first birthday. On February 19, 1943, Saffels was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Army Signal Corps. Saffels commanded the 1373rd Signal Company in the European Theater of Operations and achieved the rank of major by the time of his discharge in 1946.
He was a member of Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, holding offices in the local, state and national levels.
He was a fellow of the American Bar Foundation and Wichita Bar Foundation and a member of the American Judicature Society, American Bar Association, Kansas Bar Association and the Wichita Bar Association.
Saffels was also a member of the Delta Theta Phi and Phi Sigma Kappa fraternities.
He was honored as a 1974 distinguished alumnus of Emporia State University, the 1983 Alumnus of the Year for Washburn Law School and received the Distinguished Service Award from the Washburn Law School Association in 1987.
In 1943, he married Winona R. Vahsholtz, and they had three children. They later divorced ,and he married Margaret Elaine Cowger Deiter in 1976.
Saffels was in private practice in Garden City, Kansas from 1949 to 1979. A strong Democrat, he was elected Finney County in 1950 and reelected in 1952, serving from 1951 to 1955. In 1954, Saffels defeated an incumbent Republican to win a Kansas House of Representatives seat. He was reelected four times, serving from 1955-1963, and was minority leader from 1961 to 1963. Saffels ran for governor of Kansas in 1962 against the incumbent, John Anderson, Jr.
He was Senior United States District Judge, appointed in 1979 by Jimmy Carter. He also served as county attorney for Finney County, four terms in the Kansas House of Representatives, including a stint as democratic leader of the House, chairman of the Kansas Corporation Commission and member of a private practice.
Judge Dale Emerson Saffels died 2002Thursday, Nov. 14, at Midland Hospice House in Topeka, Kansas.
He is survived by his second wife; daughters, Suzanne Dale Gravitt, Virginia Beach, Va.; and Deborah S. Godowns, Leawood; a son, Jim Bradford Saffels, Overland Park; a stepson, Chris Nieman Cowger, Topeka; a stepdaughter, Lynda C. Harris, Dallas, 11 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
Services will be at 11 a.m. Monday at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Topeka. A private family burial will take place Tuesday in Moline.
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