Keith Rapp

Keith Rapp (also known as W. Keith Rapp) (1934-2022) was an Oklahoma attorney who served as judge on the Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals, the intermediate appellate court in the state of Oklahoma, from 1984 to 2022. A native of Ohio, he earned his Juris Doctor degree from the University of Tulsa School of Law.

Keith Rapp
Justice of the Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals
In office
1984 – August 16, 2022
Appointed byGeorge Nigh
Succeeded byTBD
Personal details
Born(1934-05-02)May 2, 1934
Wheelersburg, Ohio, U.S.
DiedAugust 16, 2022(2022-08-16) (aged 88)
Tulsa, Oklahoma, U.S.
SpouseMary Lynn Clanton
Children3
Alma materUniversity of Tulsa, (J.D.)
University of Virginia, (L.L.M.)
OccupationAerospace engineer; attorney; judge
ProfessionLaw

Biography

Judge Rapp was born on May 2, 1934, in Wheelersburg, Ohio. He received his undergraduate degree from Southwest Missouri State University (now Missouri State University) and took graduate classes in mathematics and statistics from the University of Missouri, University of Minnesota and University of Arizona. Rapp then worked as an aerospace engineer on many major NASA projects before receiving his J.D. degree from the University of Tulsa. Rapp later earned a Master of Laws degree from the University of Virginia.[1]

Military service and aerospace career

From 1953 to 1955, he served in the United States Navy, completing two tours of duty in the Far East as an aerial navigator and electronics warfare operator with the VC-35. Later, he retired from the U.S. Naval Reserves as a Judge Advocate General Corps commander.[1]

Returning to civilian life, Rapp went to work as an aerospace engineer, specializing in inertial guidance and navigation systems. Some of his projects included Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, and SkyLab for the U.S. space program and Bomarc, the first operational surface-to-air missile for the Department of Defense. While working as an engineer, he enrolled in the University of Tulsa School of Law, where he earned his Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree.[1] Later, he earned the LL.M. degree from the University of Virginia.[lower-alpha 1]

After completing law school at the University of Tulsa, Judge Rapp served as a public defender and city prosecutor in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. He later served as a municipal judge in Bixby, Oklahoma, and then an alternative municipal judge in Tulsa, Oklahoma. After this, he was judge on the 14th District Court in Tulsa. He stood for election against incumbent Judge Fred DeMier for the Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals in 1984. It was the first time a challenger had unseated an incumbent since the Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals was created in 1969.[3][lower-alpha 2]

Voters chose to retain Rapp on the Appeals Court most recently in the 2014 election. His retention rating was 59.3 percent.[4]

Death

Rapp died on August 16, 2022, at the age of 88.

Personal

He married the former Mary Lynn Clanton. They have three children, Elizabeth, Kathy and Joseph.[1]

Notes
  1. According to the University of Virginia alumni publication, Rapp graduated in the class of 1990.[2]
  2. DeMeir and Rapp had met on a ballot once before, when running against each other in 1982 for a two-year term as Civil Appeals Court Judge. DeMeir had won that match.[3]

References
  1. "Keith Rapp." Oklahoma Civil Justice Council. 2018. Accessed May 7, 2018.
  2. "1990s Class Notes." UVA Lawyer. Spring 1996. Accessed May 7, 2018.
  3. "Court of Appeals Judge Unseated." NewsOK. November 8, 1984. Accessed May 7, 2018.
  4. "Official Results, 2014 General Election". Oklahoma Elections. January 5, 2015. Archived from the original on July 11, 2017. Retrieved March 13, 2020.


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