Donn James Everett (April 29, 1929–November 29, 2007) was an American politician who served as a Republican in the

Kansas State Senate The Kansas Senate is the upper house of the Kansas Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. State of Kansas. It is composed of 40 senators elected from single-member districts, each with a population of at least 60,000 inhabitants. Members o ...

and Kansas House of Representatives from 1969 to 1978. Everett was born in

Emporia, Kansas Emporia is a city in and the county seat of Lyon County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 24,139. Emporia lies between Topeka and Wichita at the intersection of U.S. Route 50 with Interstates 335 ...

. He served in the

U.S. Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through comb ...

during the Korean War; after returning to Kansas, he married Frederica Voiland in 1956 and worked as an attorney. The couple had six children before divorcing acrimoniously; the youngest child, Bridget Everett, became a noted comedian and cabaret performer. Everett's first forays into elected office were winning races for county attorney of

Riley County Riley County (standard abbreviation: RL) is a county located in the U.S. state of Kansas. As of the 2020 census, the population was 71,959. The largest city and county seat is Manhattan. Riley County is home to two of Kansas's largest employer ...

and serving as a member of the city council in Manhattan, Kansas (including a stint as mayor). In 1968, he was elected to the Kansas House, serving until 1975. While in the Kansas House, he rose to the post of Majority Leader. During his fourth term, in 1975, he was appointed to the Kansas Senate to fill the seat left vacant by

Richard Dean Rogers Richard Dean Rogers (December 29, 1921 – November 25, 2016) was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Kansas. Education and career Born in Oberlin, Kansas, Rogers received a Bachelor of Scienc ...

, who resigned to serve as a federal judge. He served in the Senate until his own resignation in 1978.

References

Republican Party Kansas state senators Republican Party members of the Kansas House of Representatives Kansas Republicans 20th-century American politicians People from Manhattan, Kansas United States Marine Corps personnel of the Korean War Kansas lawyers University of Kansas alumni University of Kansas School of Law alumni District attorneys in Kansas Mayors of places in Kansas Kansas city council members 1929 births 2007 deaths {{Kansas-politician-stub