Rupert A. Doan ’55

The senior judge of the Ohio 1st District Court of Appeals in Hamilton County, died September 7, 2006. He was 72.

After a game of golf, he slumped in a chair while dining at the Bierhaus in Miamitown. Three of his companions were doctors who were unsuccessful in reviving him.

Judge Doan had a stroke in 1999, and his death may have been triggered by his medical history, said his daughter, Holly Doan Spraul of Covedale. Doan, who would have turned 73 that week, was the longest-sitting judge on a court of appeals in Ohio. A Republican, he had served from 1981. His judicial term would have ended in February. He couldn’t run for re-election in November because Ohio law doesn’t allow a person who has reached the age of 70 to stand for a judgeship.

Born in Miamisburg near Dayton on Sept. 13, 1933, Doan was a member of the Western Hills High School Class of 1951. He graduated from Ohio Wesleyan University, where he had a show on the school’s radio station. He met Sue Logan, a fellow student at Ohio Wesleyan, when she auditioned for a spot on his program. They married in 1955, the year he received his bachelor’s degree.

Doan graduated from the University of Cincinnati College of Law in 1958, then served three years as a captain in the Air Force. Afterward, he became a partner in the firm of Hess, Cottrell and Doan, where the bulk of his work was representing savings and loans.

He became a Hamilton County judge in 1966 – serving on the Municipal Court and the Court of Common Pleas until 1980, when he was elected to the Court of Appeals.

Before his stroke, Doan was an avid organic gardener. He and a friend, the late Pete Heckman, operated a greenhouse in Delhi Township called Evers and Elfner, where they grew roses. “He’d be in the courthouse during the week and in the greenhouse on the weekends,” his daughter said.

Doan loved the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and blue-grass music. “He just fit in anywhere and enjoyed everything,” said his daughter.

He was a member of Western Hills Country Club, a past president of the Lions Club of Price Hill and a co-chairman of Riverfest. He served on the board of the American Cancer Society, St. Joseph Orphanage and the old St. Francis Hospital. He was also a member of the Old St. Mary’s Church preservation committee. He was an elder of Shiloh Methodist Church in Delhi Township – he was fond of Old St. Mary’s because of its significance to Greater Cincinnati’s German community. Doan was proud of his German heritage.

He is survived by his wife, Sue; his daughter, Holly; a brother, Charlie Doan; and his grandsons.