Richard Honaker

Richard Henderson Honaker (born March 10, 1951) is a lawyer in Rock Springs, Wyoming who was nominated on March 19, 2007, by U.S. President George W. Bush to serve as one of three U.S. District Judges for the District of Wyoming. The nomination was given the highest "well qualified" rating by the judicial evaluation committee of the American Bar Association. Honaker was initially recommended to Bush by U.S. Senator Craig L. Thomas of Wyoming, who died some three months later. Honaker had co-chaired Thomas' reelection campaign in 2006 in Rock Springs. Honaker never obtained a Senate vote on his confirmation. The succession of Barack Obama to the presidency ended his candidacy. Had he been confirmed, Honaker would have succeeded Judge Clarence A. Brimmer in Cheyenne. Nancy D. Freudenthal was subsequently nominated and confirmed to the seat.

Early years, education, family

Honaker was one of two children adopted by Hayward E. Honaker (1911–2001) and the former Faola Henderson (born 1917) in Laramie, the seat of Albany County in southern Wyoming. He has a sister (born 1954). The Honakers were of Swiss ethnicity; originally "Honegger", they came to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in the early 18th century. One of Honaker's ancestors was with George Rogers Clark in the march to Vincennes, Indiana during the American Revolution. The Honakers settled in western Virginia, and most Honakers still reside in either Virginia or West Virginia.