Part 1
"God works wonders now and then. Behold a lawyer, an honest man." ---Benjamin Franklin
Wayne Kuhn -- a fine lawyer and an honest man. No icebreaker needed. He has been part of the fabric of Franklinton for three quarters of a century. I'm just lucky that Mr. Wayne agreed to give me the particulars. Just as with his fellow jurist John Gallaspy, I am getting while the getting's good. A parade of legendary local lawyers.
Born in 1949 in Tylertown, Mississippi, to beloved parents Louis Kuhn and wife Maxine George Kuhn -- Washington Parish natives and residents -- Wayne's boyhood began in Franklinton. He grew up with his older siblings Mary Louise and Robert Kuhn in the Kuhn family home on 13th Avenue.
He was educated in the Franklinton schools, where he played on the 1966 and 1967 Franklinton High School "FHS" state championship baseball teams. Not that it's not now, but baseball was big back then. As Mr. Wayne explained, "Dr. McGehee made it that way. People played for 'the Doctors.' We treated them like they were Mickey Mantle." And that's the way it was, in that era in Franklinton.
During high school and college, Wayne worked for Gold Seal Creamery, situated where the Washington Parish jail is now, washing out the tank trucks which helped pay some of his education expenses.
Mr. Wayne elaborated, "My dad always told us that it didn't matter what career we chose but we were all going to get a college degree so we would not have to work seven days per week like he did. He was the manager of Gold Seal Creamery for 43 years."
Mr. Wayne's sister Mary Louise Kuhn Booty is a retired teacher, and his brother Robert Kuhn, Jr., retired as the Vice Provost and Associate Vice Chancellor of Finance and Administration at Louisiana State University.
It was in his senior year at FHS that Wayne decided that he wanted to become a lawyer. He credited his teachers Margie Ann Burris, who taught him civics, and Wanda Nelson and Novie Graham, who taught him English. Wayne was enthralled with civics and government, and he loved English, learning to write well under the tutelage of his teachers. As an attorney, I can appreciate what Mr. Wayne said, "Being a lawyer requires a lot of technical writing." He noted that not only did some of his teachers and his principal -- Dr. James Stafford -- later use him as their attorney which meant a lot to him, but Ms. Novie figured out the legal descriptions of her own property -- brilliant!
It appears that one's lot in life often turns on proximity, to people and places. Not only was Wayne educated by the right people at FHS but he was in the right place, growing up a stone's throw from the Washington Parish Courthouse. More on that next time. First, following graduation from FHS in 1967, he matriculated at Louisiana State University where he majored in history, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1971. Mr. Wayne knew he was going to law school. Beginning his study of the law, he attended LSU Law School, where he learned from renowned law professors with legal scholar George W. Pugh, the expert in Louisiana evidence, chief among them.
But more importantly, it was in Wayne's third year of law school that he met Sarah Kennedy, the beautiful daughter of Walter "Red" Kennedy and wife Eva Blackwell Kennedy of Washington Parish. She was a teacher in Baton Rouge. Interestingly, both Wayne and Sarah had played basketball in high school, participating in the huge Washington Parish Tournament -- a big deal in the 1960s when all the schools in the Washington Parish school system competed. They played on the same court on the same night, but they didn't officially meet until they were in Baton Rouge. And the courting began. Wayne earned his Juris Doctor degree from LSU Law School in 1974, and the young couple married in 1976.
The daughter of a military man, I would be remiss if I didn't mention that Mr. Wayne was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Army in 1971, after completing four years of ROTC (Reserve Officers' Training Corps) at LSU. And in 1974 he graduated from the U.S. Army Military Police School, Officer Basic Course, at Fort Gordon, Georgia, where he was selected the Class Leader. This accolade came as no surprise to me. I happen to know that you don't volunteer; you are selected for the honor. While Wayne had been warned by another officer -- "Whatever you do, don't be Class Leader" -- he heard the Captain loud and clear, "Kuhn, you're the Class Leader." Indubitably the best choice, he honorably served, but he emphasized that it was only for three months. The Vietnam War was winding down. Mr. Wayne was honorably discharged in 1979 from the U. S. Army Reserves with the rank of Captain.
Fortunately for us, he returned home in 1974 to Washington Parish where he was invited to practice with the firm of Johnson & Johnson which at that time was comprised of Delos Johnson, Jr., and Johnny Johnson who were notably not related.
With Johnny soon departing for Hammond, Wayne practiced with Mr. Delos for eight years in the office on Cleveland Street, across the street from the Washington Parish Courthouse. It was a general practice, that of country lawyers who according to Mr. Wayne "do a little bit of everything."
•Stay tuned next week for more on the life of Wayne Kuhn - his family, his career, and his civic work.
