About
My Family, My Career, & My Volunteerism -
*I was born at St Joseph Hospital (now Queen of Peace Hospital) in Mitchell along with my 7 brothers and sisters.
*I grew up on a farm west of Salem and came to Mitchell for post-high school education.
*I graduated from Mitchell Technical College (Mitchell Vo-Tech at the time) in the Accounting/Business Management department.
*Married to Deb for nearly 49 years.
*2 grown sons - Eric and Blake who both reside in Mitchell, are married, and raising a total of 5 grandchildren.
*I started at Muth Electric part-time while attending Mitchell Vo-Tech and continued there full-time for 45 years. Muth Electric only employed 10 people when I started and grew to over 400 at 10 locations and 25 departments when I retired in January of 2020.
*Helped start 10 small businesses.
*Managing partner in 3 assisted living facilities during COVID.
Volunteered with a large number of organizations all my life:
*4-H and FFA up through my teen years.
*South Dakota Jaycees - Served as state President in 1985-86 when there were nearly 4,000 members.
*Scoutmaster in Boy Scout Troop 72 for 10 years and President of the Eastern SD Sioux Council during 2021-23. Currently on the Board of Directors and project manager on nearly $4 million of projects.
*School board and volunteer for both Holy Family Church, St John Paul II School, SF Diocese Bishops Pastoral council and Facilitator for the Set Ablaze reorganization.
*Served 8 years on the SD Board of Education and now 7 years on the SD Board of Technical education where I was an original board member overseeing the 4 Technical Colleges in SD.
*Currently on the Mitchell Technical College Foundation board.
*In 2022 created Mitchell Area Housing Inc (MAHI) non-profit to facilitate the construction of Workforce housing/starter homes in Mitchell.
*Served on the Mitchell Airport Board for 12 years.
*Served on the Mitchell Area Development Corporation in several roles including President.
*Former member of Mitchell United Way Board for 12 years, including Campaign Chair and President.
*Current Member of Mitchell Rotary.
