Background
Van Oosterhout was born in Orange City, Iowa.
Van Oosterhout was born in Orange City, Iowa.
University of Iowa College of Law. University of Iowa.
He received a Bachelor of Arts from State University of Iowa in 1922, and a Juris Doctor from the University of Iowa College of Law in 1924. He was in private practice in Orange City from 1924 to 1933. He was a judge on the 21st Judicial District of Iowa from 1933 to 1954.
He was confirmed by the United States Senate on August 20, 1954, and received his commission on August 26, 1954.
He served as chief judge of the Eighth Circuit from 1968 to 1970. He assumed senior status on July 6, 1971, and served in that capacity until his death on January 28, 1979.
In the last four of those years (from 1929 to 1933) he also served as a Republican member of the Iowa House of Representatives.