He grew up in Kansas City, Missouri, where he graduated from the Pembroke Country-Day School in 1963.

He received a Juris Doctor from the University of Kansas School of Law in 1970.

He practiced law in Los Angeles, California from 1970 to 1971, after which he served as a lieutenant in the United States Army from 1971 to 1972.

[1] On July 24, 1991, President George H. W. Bush nominated Lungstrum to be a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Kansas, to fill the seat vacated by Judge Dale E. Saffels, who assumed senior status on November 16, 1990.

The United States Senate confirmed Lungstrum's nomination on October 31, 1991, and he received his commission on November 5, 1991.