Charles F. Kurfess served in the U.S. Army Counter Intelligence Corp in the Far East during the Korean Conflict and operated a general law practice for 33 years in Bowling Green. His long career as a public servant included two terms as a Wood County Common Pleas Judge and 11 terms as a state representative, during three of which he served as Speaker of the House.

He has been active nationally in organizations supporting the work of state legislatures, having been one of the founders of the National Council of State Legislatures and serving on the Governing Board of the Executive Committee of the Council of State Governments.

He serves on several committees and task forces for the Ohio Judicial Conference, the Ohio Supreme Court, and the Ohio State Bar Association. He was awarded Honorary Life Fellowship by the Ohio State Bar Foundation and Distinguished Alumnus Award from Bowling Green State University, and was appointed by Presidents Nixon and Ford to the Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations.

He is a graduate of Bowling Green State University and the Ohio State University Moritz School of Law.

He is married to former Helyn Rudolph; father to three, grandfather to five, and great-grandfather to one; and a lifelong member of St. John's Lutheran Church in Stony Ridge.