Don Hanaway
Honorific prefixThe Honorable
Order40th
OfficeAttorney General of Wisconsin
Term startJanuary 3, 1987
Term endJanuary 7, 1991
GovernorTommy Thompson
PredecessorBronson La Follette
SuccessorJim Doyle
Office 1Wisconsin Circuit Judge for the Brown Circuit, Branch 4
Appointer 1Tommy Thompson
Term start 1July 1991
Term end 1September 7, 1995
Predecessor 1John Jaekels
Successor 1William C. Griesbach
State senate 2Wisconsin
District 22nd
Term start 2July 11, 1979
Term end 2January 3, 1987
Predecessor 2Tom Petri
Successor 2Robert Cowles
Office 327th Mayor of De Pere, Wisconsin
Term start 3April 1972
Term end 3April 1974
Predecessor 3Roger H. Rebman
Successor 3Robert P. DeGroot
PartyRepublican
Birth dateDecember 25, 1933
Birth placeStevens Point, Wisconsin, U.S.
Death dateSeptember 7, 1995 (aged 61)
Death placeGreen Bay, Wisconsin, U.S.
Resting placeAllouez Catholic Cemetery and Chapel Mausoleum
Green Bay, Wisconsin
SpouseJo Ann
Alma materUniversity of Wisconsin–Madison
University of Wisconsin Law School
Professionattorney, judge
AllegianceUnited States
BranchUnited States Army
Service years1954–1956

Donald J. Hanaway (December 25, 1933 – September 7, 1995) was an American lawyer, jurist, and Republican politician from De Pere, Wisconsin. He was the 40th attorney general of Wisconsin, serving from 1987 to 1991, and subsequently served the last four years of his life as a Wisconsin circuit court judge in Brown County. Earlier in his career, he was the 27th mayor of De Pere (1972–1974) and served eight years in the Wisconsin Senate (1979–1987).

Biography

Hanaway was born in Stevens Point, Wisconsin. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin–Madison School of Commerce in 1958, and received his juris doctor from the University of Wisconsin Law School in 1961. He had previously served in the United States Army from 1954 to 1956.[1]

Before being elected Attorney General, Hanaway served as a Brown County Assistant District Attorney from 1962 to 1964, and later as a special prosecutor in Brown County from 1967 to 1968. He also served concurrently as the De Pere city attorney from 1965 to 1972, and again from 1976 to 1979. In between those stints as city attorney, he served as mayor of De Pere from 1972 to 1974.[2]

Hanaway was elected as a Republican in a special election to the Wisconsin State Senate in July 1979. He was re-elected to the State Senate's 2nd District in 1980, and again in 1984. He served as an assistant minority leader from 1981 to 1982.[3]

In 1986, Hanaway ran for attorney general, defeating incumbent Bronson La Follette. He served one term, being defeated for re-election by Jim Doyle in 1990.[4]

Hanaway went on to serve as a Brown County Circuit Judge from 1991 until his death in 1995.[5] Hanaway died from cancer at a hospital in Green Bay, Wisconsin. He and his wife, Jo Ann, had four children.[6][7]

Electoral history

  • 1990 Race for state Attorney General
    • Jim Doyle (D), 51%
    • Don Hanaway (R) (inc.), 47%

Notes

  1. ^ 'Wisconsin Blue Book 1989-1990,' Biographical Sketch of Donald Hanaway, pg. 6
  2. ^ 'Wisconsin Blue Book 1989-1990,' Biographical Sketch of Donald Hanaway, pg. 6
  3. ^ 'Wisconsin Blue Book 1989-1990,' Biographical Sketch of Donald Hanaway, pg. 9
  4. ^ Hanaway, Donald J. 1933
  5. ^ 'Wisconsin Blue Book 1991-1992,' Judicial Branch, pg. 960
  6. ^ 'Donald J. Hanaway-obituary,' Wisconsin State Journal, September 9, 1995, pg. 4B
  7. ^ Former attorney general Don Hanaway dies from cancer,' Wisconsin State Journal, September 9, 1995, pg. 3B