One of the best legal minds in Jefferson County recently died.
Raymond H. “Ray” Dickhaner, 76, died on June 28. He was a lawyer for more than 50 years, served as a founding judge of the Jefferson County Municipal Court and was an associate circuit judge from 2006-2014.
“He was a local giant in the legal profession,” said former Jefferson County Circuit Court Judge Mark Stoll, who said he first met Dickhaner in 1976.
Dennis Tesreau, who worked with Dickhaner at the Wegmann Law Firm, said he was devastated when he learned of his friend’s death.
“He was a great guy,” Tesreau said. “He was smart. He was kind. He was a good friend. He was caring.”
Dickhaner earned his undergraduate degree from Westminster College and his juris doctor and master of laws (LL.M.) in taxation from Washington University School of Law. He was admitted to the Missouri Bar in 1975.
Dickhaner served as legal counsel to numerous municipalities, fire protection districts and sewer districts throughout the region, including serving as attorney for Jefferson County 911.
“He was the best and smartest lawyer in Jefferson County,” said Arnold City
Attorney Bob Sweeney, who was a law partner with Dickhaner. “He knew the law.”
Stoll said Dickhaner loved his family. Dickhaner is survived by his wife, Nancy; their two children, Jessica (Scott) Settlemoir and Dustin (Mandy) Ostrowski; four grandchildren; a brother; two nieces; five great-nieces and a great-nephew.
“He was very dedicated to his family,” he said.
A visitation will be held from 4-7 p.m. Friday at the Kutis Funeral Home, 5255 Lemay Ferry Road, in south St. Louis County.
Sweeney said he believes Dickhaner tried more jury trials than any lawyer who has practiced in Jefferson County.
“He was masterful with Jefferson County juries,” Sweeney said. “It was fun to watch him. Ray was able to be such a regular guy.”
Dickhaner’s prowess as a trial lawyer was recognized in 1983 when he received the Lon O. Hocker Award, which is given annually to three young lawyers of The Missouri Bar, who are under the age of 40 who exemplify the qualities of a trial lawyer, including professionalism and high ethical conduct.
“That was quite a big deal,” Stoll said. “It made his mark as one of the finest young trial lawyers in Missouri. He was very versatile. Not only did he do a lot of trial work, but he also did a lot of public entities, water districts, sewer districts, cities, towns and villages. He also did a lot of real estate work, wills and trusts.”
Tesreau said Dickhaner was the best trial lawyer he ever saw. He said Dickhaner was effective as a lawyer because of his ability to communicate.
“He could communicate with his clients,” Tesreau said. “He knew what they wanted and helped them get there. He could communicate with the jury. That is tough to do. You have to win them over. He would win them over without misleading them in any way.”
Stoll said along with being able to communicate, Dickhaner always thoroughly prepared for his cases.
“He was very thorough in everything that he did in a case,” Stoll said. “He wouldn’t forget about anything. He wouldn’t say later on, ‘I should have done this, or I should have done that.’ There were no regrets. He always seemed to be on top of his cases.
“If you can communicate and are well prepared, you are going to get the respect of the judges. They will know you can be counted on to tell the truth and you won’t hedge on the law in any way. If the case goes to appeal, they will not be embarrassed because they took your side of the case. That is the kind of person you want to be your advocate.”
Tesreau said Dickhaner handled transitioning from a lawyer to a judge well.
“The main thing was he was patient,” Tesreau said. “A judge has to be patient. His intelligence would shine through, just as it did as a lawyer. There was nothing that you could take in front of him that he didn’t understand. I don’t think he had trouble understanding anything, but if he did, he would find the answer. He wasn’t just winging it. He knew what was going on. He understood what was going on. If he had a problem with it, he found the answer. He was patient and a good judge.”
Sweeney said Dickhaner worked as hard as a judge as he did when representing clients.
“He was diligent as a judge,” Sweeney said. “He moved more cases and issues than normal.”
Stoll said Dickhaner was an effective judge because he was versatile.
“When you have practiced in a lot of areas of the law, you get to the point where you say I have encountered that kind of issue before because I did it when I practiced law,” Stoll said. “He knew a lot of law. He was very thorough. He was honest. I would have trusted him with anything.”
Sweeney said Dickhaner was the first lawyer he met in Jefferson County.
He said during his first semester of law school, he went to the Wegmann Law Firm with a handful of resumes to ask if the firm needed a clerk.
“I went in there, walked up to the receptionist’s window and said, ‘I am a first-year law student, and I was wondering if you needed a law clerk,’” Sweeney said. “Ray’s office is to the side. I guess he heard me, and he said, ‘Come on in, I will talk to you.’
“I went to work at the Wegmann Law Firm. I didn’t know what I was doing. He hired me at Wegmann and kind of mentored me through law school.”
Sweeney said also Dickhaner exemplified integrity.
“If you followed Ray’s lead, you would be OK,” he said. “That was the guidepost for me.”
Stoll said he and Dickhaner were running partners, and the two ran numerous road races together.
“Sometimes we would run two road races in a weekend,” he said. “Neither one of us was a very good runner, we did it for the sport of it and to keep ourselves in shape.”
Stoll said Dickhaner was a sports fan and would attend St. Louis Cardinal baseball games, Blues hockey games, University of Missouri, University of Illinois and St. Louis University athletic events and Rams games, when the team was in St. Louis.
“Years ago, he was at some kind of function, but he won season tickets to the Rams, Cardinals, Mizzou, Illinois basketball and SLU basketball,” Stoll said. “It was amusing. He couldn’t possibly go to all of that stuff, even though he went to a lot of games. He had so many tickets, he didn’t know what to do with them.”
Stoll said Dickhaner will be missed professionally and personally.
“We’re starting to lose the Paper Chase generation of lawyers who graduated in the ’70s, and Ray was one of the finest,” Stoll said. “He will be missed by his many friends and colleagues.”