John R. Dethmers

Who was John R. Dethmers?

John R. Dethmers was a politician from the U.S. state of Michigan.

Dethmers was born in Plessis in O'Brien County, Iowa. He resided in Orange City, Iowa, Holland, Michigan, and East Lansing, Michigan. He enrolled at Hope College in Holland, Michigan, then went on to the University of Michigan Law School and began to practice law in 1927. Dethmers was a member of various judicial associations and was a family man with three children. He was Ottawa County Prosecuting Attorney from 1931-1938. He was a member of the Michigan Republican State Central Committee in 1939. Dethmers served as Chairman of the Michigan Republican Party from 1942–1945 and was a delegate to the 1944 Republican National Convention. He served as Michigan Attorney General from 1945-1946. Governor Harry Kelly appointed Dethmers Justice of the Michigan Supreme Court, serving from 1946–1970 and serving as Chief Justice of the Michigan State Supreme Court in 1953, 1956–1962, and 1967-1969. He was defeated in 1970. He was a Presbyterian and a member of the American Judicature Society. John R. Dethmers died in Lansing.