University Daily Kansan / Tuesday, November 11, 1986
5
Colleagues, friends surprised, saddened by von Ende ordeal
Promise, trouble mark tale
Continued from p.1
An effective lobbyist
Several years ago, Winter's father, then a state senator, introduced him to von Ende in Topeka.
"He said he was one of the most effective lobbyists in Topeka," Winter said.
Winter cited the new animal research laboratory under construction at the University of Kansas Medical Center in Kansas City, Kan., as an example of von Ende's effectiveness.
Last year, the Med Center needed the new lab, but legislators didn't think the state had the money for it, Winter said.
Von Ende put the need for the animal lab in economic terms, showing that federal research money was threatened without the new building. Winter said.
Then von Ende proposed an unusual financing scheme that would stretch the cost of the building over 20 years, Winter said. The plan used hospital revenues and expected future grant money to pay for the building.
"He did a lot of different things like that." Winter said. Chancellor Gene A. Budig agreed with Winter's assessment.
"He knew how to get things done in an effective manner." Budig said. "He understood government and the people who served in it."
Von Ende, a native of Austin, Texas, came to Lawrence about 20 years ago. He received a master's degree in law from the University of Oklahoma.
In 1970, von Ende became assistant to the director of University Relations and Development. In 1972, then acting Chancellor Raymond Nichols appointed him as University executive secretary.
'He knew how to get things done in an effective manner. He understood government and the people who served in it.'
Gene A. Budig Chancellor
"It was just fortuitous," Nichols said, "Rick walked in and said he was looking for a job."
Before von Ende became executive secretary, the job was broader in scope. It included being one of the University's chief financial officers, secretary for all University governance bodies and working with alumni, Nichols
After von Ende took the job, his duties evolved to mainly representing KU to the Kansas Legislature.
"He knew the needs of the University and he was very articulate," Nichols said. "I think he was convincing."
Then in July, von Ende and 20 others were indicted in Lawrence on cocaine-related crimes after an investigation that involved local, state and federal drug enforcement officials.
Shock but no surprise
He was charged in federal court with three counts of distributing cocaine and three counts of conspiracy to distribute cocaine.
Sept. 22, von Ende pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute cocaine and a new count of distributing cocaine.
The new charge was that von Ende distributed about 1 gram of cocaine to Bradley Smoot, a former Kansas deputy attorney general, Jan. 16 at the West Lawrence exit of the Kansas Turnipke.
Smoot, a Lawrence attorney, had served as von Ende's attorney in a separate civil suit.
All other previous charges against von Ende were dropped.
The morning he pleaded guilty, von Ende resigned his position as University executive secretary. Most who knew him reacted to his guilty pleas and resignation with disbelief.
"I was shocked," Nichols said, "except he was not the same person."
"He was brilliant. I had expected him to be president of a junior college or maybe a small four-year college someday."
At the time of von Ende's resignation, James Scaly,
assistant to the chancellor, expressed his sorrow.
"I've worked with Rick for years." Scally said. "It's a situation for him. And I like everyone else who knows
State Senate Minority Leader Michael Johnston, D-Parens, worked with von Ende in the Legislature. Johnston said he felt disappointed and almost angry about von Ende.
"I expect those kinds of emotions were shared by most people who know him," he said.
However, though shocked, some who knew von Ende acknowledged they weren't surprised. Winter said he, like others, had suspected von Ende had become involved with drugs.
"We all suspected," he said. "I never knew for sure until after it all came out."
Von Ende was a different person during the 1985 legislative session. Winter said
"He was a little less prompt in what he was doing." Winter said.
Von Ende became slow in returning phone calls and was late in getting information to legislators. He would get things done, but it wasn't until the last possible moment. Winter said.
"It it was clearly different than his method of operation before," Winter said. "It was kind of a hallmark of von Ende — to do it right and on time."
About the same time, von Ende bought a Corvette, and people around him joked about a mid-life crisis, Winter said. The federal Drug Enforcement Administration seized the car Sept. 10 for its alleged use in transporting drugs.
"I remember when I first met him," Winter said. "I recall a bookish kind of fellow, kind of pear-shaped. He was more academically oriented."
An emotional crisis
About five years ago, von Ende interested in athletics and lost a lot of weight. Winter said, Von Ende began jogging, playing rugby and lifting weights with members of the football team.
Because three years ago, von Ende reversed that trend because of his impending divorce. Winter said, Johnston had been wrong all along.
Von Ende married Kathryn Dodd Lewis in 1966. She filled for divorce Jan. 3, 1985.
In 1983, von Ende seemed to go back to his unathletic ways, Winter said.
During the 1985 session, von Ende associated with a different group of people. Winter said.
"He was markedly different," Winter said. "He wasn't seen at the usual places.
This continued through the 1966 legislative session. Although von Ends was slower, he still represented the Union in Parliament.
"Even then he still was good; functioning at the top of his game, he was magnificent," Winter said. "It was frustrating to all of us."
Nichols said he also had noticed a change in von Ende about a year ago.
"I was positive this past year that something was wrong," Nichols said.
Nichols said that in the past he would make a point to talk with von Ende when he was in the office. But about a year ago, von Ende began ignoring him.
Nichols said von Ende, who always had been thoughtful, cheerful and kind, became distant and quiet. Nichols began to avoid von Ende's office, an office where before he always had felt welcome.
"All that seemed to be taboo," Nichols said of visiting von Ende.
His sea of troubles
Problems seemed to hound von Ende
According to Douglas County court documents, on Nov. 28, 1985. Lawrence police stopped von Ende for a traffic violation. According to court records, von Ende's driver's license was suspended after he refused to submit to a test for alcohol or drugs.
"I had already performed three field tests, so I concluded that the order to take a chemical test was merely a fishing expedition," von Ende stated in a court document.
He was granted a stay of his suspension until the case was tried. This date was pushed back because von Ende
was in strict quarantine and under a doctor's care for a contagious kidney infection, which he contracted at the end of June. according to court documents.
Von Ende still is scheduled to appear in Douglas County District Court on Nov. 21 for that case.
In another case, Morning Star Kennels, Route 4, sued Von Ende for abandoning his dogs from May 1986 to August 1986. The suit was later dropped after von Ende the dogs and paid about $600 in boarding charges.
At the close of the 1986 session, Budig assigned von Ende to special projects. Budig said the special projects had involved von Ende working as a researcher and speech writer for the University.
Budig said that at the end of the 1986 legislative session, it had become apparent that representing both the Lawrence campus and the Med Center was too much for one person.
So Budig assigned Marlin Rein, associate director of
James Scaly Assistant to the chancellor
business and fiscal affairs at the Med Center, and James Bibb, Lawrence associate director of business and fiscal affairs, to divide the legislative responsibilities
Budig said he had intended for von Ende to continue his duties as legislative liaison during the 1987 session, working with Bibb and Rein.
In June, von Ende went on sick leave.
Winter said that both von Ende and von Ende's physician, Ralph Reed, of Lawrence, had told him that von Ende had henatitis.
"He seemed to be sick a lot." Winter said.
Budig said several legislators had approached him with concerns about von Ende's health, and Budig encouraged von Ende to seek medical attention.
Now, University and state officials talk about how much von Ende will be missed.
"Rick had a record of exceptional service to the University of Kansas over the years. He will be difficult to replace," Budig said. "He had a pleasant personality. People liked him and wanted to be responsive. The University benefited."
Winter said von Ende probably had been among the top five people who had done the most for the University in the city.
"I don't know what caused him to get into the cocaine thing," he said.
Winter said he wished von Ende had listened to the concern of those around him.
"It itdn't have an effect," Winter said. "I wish it would have."
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