Born in Yale, Kansas, Theis received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Kansas in 1933 and a Juris Doctor from the University of Michigan Law School in 1936.

He was chief counsel of the Office of Price Stabilization for Kansas from 1950 to 1952.

[1] Theis was an unsuccessful Democratic candidate for the Kansas 1960 United States Senate elections.

[citation needed] Theis was nominated by President Lyndon B. Johnson on January 16, 1967, to the United States District Court for the District of Kansas, to a new seat created by 80 Stat.

Theis served in that capacity until his death on January 17, 1998.