Kragt sworn in, comes home to give back to the community he loves

A pair of superior court judges greeted John Kragt Monday afternoon for an official proceeding in the Adams County Superior Court. Judges Richard Miller and John Strohmaier stood together for a brief affair dealing with an important matter involving a young man they both have known for many years.

The courtroom was filled with attorneys, friends and family — all to mark a milestone in Kragt’s life. He was officially sworn in by the two judges, a process formally acknowledging Kragt for his completion of law school and having passed the state bar examination.

The newest member of the business community, working for the firm Carperter, McGuire and DeWulf. P.S., was officially notified he had passed the state bar exam on Oct. 17. After waiting 12 grueling weeks for the news, when the letter arrived with results of testing, Kragt was nervous enough to require a bit of assistance.

“It was fantastic,” he said of the news. “The Ritzville Post Office opened up early for me. I knew the letter would be there that day. Rusty (McGuire) drove me over there, we went in there and I couldn’t open the letter my hands were shaking too bad so he opened it for me. He had the ultimate opportunity to be ‘oh, I’m sorry,’ but he didn’t. Then I made my victory run down main street coming back here. It was pretty awesome. I was running right down the centerline on main street Ritzville. I could not be happier.”

Kragt’s family has played an integral roll in the community these past 25 years. His father, Dr. Warren Kragt, has operated a chiropractic business here for a quarter of a century. His mother, Jolene worked for Judge Strohmaier when he ran a law firm. She now serves Iverson Law Office.

John and his siblings, Jake and Jenna, all left notable marks in the record books for their accomplishments as students and athletes. All three went on to attend Division I schools as scholarship athletes.

Ritzville left a deep impression on John, one that drove him to find a career path which would open a door for him to return to rural living in the Pacific Northwest, specifically to the community that helped raise him.

The 2003 Ritzville High School graduate was a prime example of the top athletes developed here. In his senior year he was the B-11 football Player of the Year and an All-State player for his efforts at running back and free safety.

The Broncos advanced to the state championship game twice during John’s football career, in his sophomore and senior years. They would lose both games, something John still believes could and should have come out differently.

The recognition he received for his accomplishments in football, he said, could have been given to others.

“It was a pretty loaded team,” he said. “They could have given that Player of the Year award to anybody.”

Charismatic, energetic and driven, John does say repeatedly during a recent interview that he doesn’t seek the spotlight or significant recognition for his accomplishments. Still, he has earned high honors and accolades through most of his 26 years.

He lettered in four high school sports including basketball, track and golf. He played golf one year as a freshman and qualified for the state tournament.

In basketball he was a forward on a competitive team that just missed trips to state in his junior and senior seasons.

While he was a cornerstone of the football program, John eventually advanced in collegiate athletics based on his high school track career. He won the state title in the 200-meter event as a senior.

After graduation he moved to Spokane and enrolled at Spokane Falls Community College where he would compete for two years as a track athlete and earn the designation of All-American as a decathlete.

After earning an AA degree in Spokane John received an invitation he couldn’t refuse. The university of Alabama offered him a scholarship to join its prestigious men’s track program.

“I knew I wanted to stay in the Pacific Northwest, probably Ritzville for the rest of my life. I figured I better go somewhere for a couple of years, experience something different,” John recalls.

The trip to Alabama ultimately was a good experience for him. Competing in the Southeastern Conference (SEC) John finished eighth in the championships in the heptathlon in 2006 — a notable accomplishment against some of the premier track athletes in the entire country.

At the same time he was focused on his studies and would earn a Bachelors degree in history with a minor in political science in December 2007.

He returned to the Pacific Northwest, contemplating a law career. The plan was to study law at Gonzaga University.

“I have always enjoyed speaking in front of people and then you think about that (law). You can help people this way,” he said. “Most of the guys in my generation, we all grew up in this community. You feel like you got raised by the community. When you’re 18 or 19 you think I’m going to college to have a good time, and then when I got to Alabama and I was 20-21, I thought, ‘how do I get back to Ritzville or a small town in the PNW.’ I don’t have any farm ground to come back to. I wasn’t going to be a chiropractor like my dad because I didn’t think I could handle the anatomy classes and science was not my specialty, that’s Jake’s deal.”

Mulling his future, already leaning toward a law degree, John saw a way to return to the hometown he dearly loves and to find a career path that would help him give back.

“It was a career choice but at the same time it was kind of a life choice. I knew right away I wasn’t going to be an attorney going into some high rise firm working 90 hours a week trying to be a huge litigator,” he said. “I wanted to live a small town lawyer life.”

A few months of manual labor in Spokane helped confirm what he would do next.

“I worked as a furniture delivery man when I got back up to Spokane and as a concrete guy for six months and if there was any questions I had about if I should go to law school or not those were answered then. Concrete’s tough work,” John said.

He would soon discover law school wouldn’t be an easy road.

“It’s a lot of work,” John said. “You spend your whole life learning one way. Get through college and think you’re pretty smart. ‘Yeah I graduated from college, look at me I’m neat.’ And then you get to law school. Everything you have learned, that’s all gone and this is how you do it now and we’re going to hide the ball from you so you’re going to have to learn that on your own. It was a rude awakening to say the least. Thankfully I had Kellie to keep me sane.”

Kellie Kragt is another source of pride for John. The two met in Alabama where she was an athlete, playing softball. From Lake Jackson, Texas, to the University of Alabama, Kellie was accustomed to big city living, where John was raised in small town.

On a first date Kellie wanted to explore John’s future aspirations, asking him what he wanted to do with the rest of his life?

“I said I’m going to be mayor of Ritzville,” John recalls. “She asked me how big is Ritzville and I told her about 1,500. She looked at me like I was telling a joke and I was pretty serious with her.”

Obviously his aspirations didn’t scare her off. The pair were married July 5, 2008. She now has become part of Ritzville and works for Leffel, Otis & Warwick, P.S.

John’s first foray into working in a law office came during the summer after his first year of law school. Carpenter, McGuire & DeWulf, P.S. offered him an internship.

“ It was awesome. I sat in client meetings. I was drafting some motions. I was doing real things where all my friends who were in internships were just doing research like in cubby holes in these offices in Spokane,” John said. “They treated me very, very well here and showed me, when you work for a firm like this you are able to help a lot of old people and farmers. You’re not dealing with people trying to take over huge mergers. It’s not awful law it’s good law. It’s very broad. And that’s an awesome thing too. It’s like being a decathlete, you see a little bit of everything so I like that.”

After his second year in law school John as able to do even more, including prosecuting criminal cases for the City of Ritzville, one of the firm’s clients.

After graduating from law school in May of this year, marking the completion of a three-year affair, the real work began in the form of preparation for the bar examination. Kragt immediately began attending the bar exam review course which continued until the end of July when he took the exam.

The test spans almost three days and involved 24 questions that pertain to the rule of law. It’s an intense experience.

“Attorneys say you will never be smarter than right after you get done with the bar exam. You will never know the law better,” John said.

For John, coming home to practice law provides more than a stable career in a city he loves. The opportunity will create ways for him to give back to the city that helped raise him — a place he wants to help survive.

“Kellie and I had this conversation the other day. The dishwasher was going out in the new house. Her immediate reaction was ‘let’s go to Home Depot in Spokane and look for one.’ Why would we do that when we’ve got Bob’s TV right downtown that has the same product. And if it costs a little bit extra that’s fine,” John said. “If people stop buying from Scott, in 10 years he doesn’t exist. I hate to see all the economic leakage from the town. I’m not saying I’m perfect. But when I was growing up here, I went to Rummer’s and bought all my basketball clothes. We had a Sears. You could order everything from Sears. You didn’t have to leave town for the most part.”

While standing up for shopping locally, John also believes in the way the community contributes and supports the children.

“I wanted to come home first and foremost. I have the best parents in the world. At the end of the day my parents did raise me, but this community raised me and shaped my values. For the most part if you give the people in this town a chance to be involved in your life, they are going to support you on everything.”

And big city life wasn’t appealing.

“I lived in Spokane during law school,” he said. “I think Spokane is a great city, but I can’t stand going to the grocery store and not having three conversations with people about stuff. You go in and shop and you’re just a number. I did not like that.”

John’s giving back to Ritzville’s investment of time and support in him has already begun. Last week he was sworn in as the newest member of the Ritzville Lions Club.

As he settles in to his new career, John will likely take on many community projects as his way of expressing gratitude for the community’s support of him over the years. Don’t be surprised if he routinely encourages others his age to do the same.