1983_douglas | Woodward HOF

Andy Douglas Inducted 1983 - Class of 1950

When he was in the 5th grade at Stickney School, he was elected a fire marshal. It was the start of a highly successful political career for Andy Douglas, a 1950 graduate of Woodward High School. Mr. Douglas sharpened his political skills at Woodward. In his junior year he was president of the Woodward Student Council; in his senior year he was president of the Toledo Area High School Student Council. At the University of Toledo he continued to prove his ability to win votes: he was elected a Student Senate representative in his freshman year and president of his class in his sophomore year.

In 1961 at the age of 29 and just two years after receiving his law degree from the University of Toledo, Mr. Douglas became the youngest member of the Toledo City Council. Despite his comparative youth and the fact that it was his first race for public office, he out polled all candidates. In four of his subsequent campaigns for Council, he also led the ticket. He went on to serve 20 years as a city councilman, the second longest council career in Toledo history.

His council career ended only when he moved from the legislative to the judicial area of public service. In November, 1980, he was elected a judge of the Sixth District Court of Appeals, carrying all but one of the seven counties the district comprises. On Dec. 30,1980, Governor Rhodes appointed Judge Douglas to the Court of Appeals to fill a vacancy until Feb. 10, 1981 , at which time his own six-year term began.

Judge Douglas had been named one of Toledo's Outstanding Young Men in 1961, 1962, 1963, and 1964, and by the U.S. Junior Chamber of Commerce as an Outstanding Young Man of America in 1964.

Although he was, as a Republican, almost always a member of the city Council minority, he was at the same time one of its most influential members. When he became a judge, The Blade said in an editorial: “City council will never be the same without Andy Douglas. . . . He has been an invaluable source of enlightenment and assistance for Democratic mayors and councils and has demonstrated real responsibility and leadership in helping to resolve the unending problems that come before Council."