George Speaker Mickelson (January 31, 1941April 19, 1993) was an American politician and

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

veteran who served as the

28th 28 (twenty-eight) is the natural number following 27 and preceding 29. In mathematics It is a composite number, its proper divisors being 1, 2, 4, 7, and 14. Twenty-eight is the second perfect number - it is the sum of its proper diviso ...

governor of South Dakota The governor of South Dakota is the head of government of South Dakota. The governor is elected to a four-year term in even years when there is no presidential election. The current governor is Kristi Noem, a member of the Republican Party who t ...

from 1987 until his death in 1993 in a plane crash near

Zwingle, Iowa Zwingle is a city in Dubuque and Jackson counties in the U.S. state of Iowa. The population was 84 at the time of the 2020 census, down from 100 in 2000. History Zwingle was originally built up chiefly by settlers from Pennsylvania. It was named ...

. His father, George T. Mickelson, was also governor of South Dakota, from 1947 to 1951. To date, the Mickelsons are the only father-son duo to have held that office. He is a member of the prominent Mickelson family of

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux Native American tribes, who comprise a large po ...

Early life and education

Mickelson was born in

Mobridge, South Dakota Mobridge also Kȟowákataŋ Otȟúŋwahe ( Lakota: ''Kȟowákataŋ Otȟúŋwahe''; lit. "Over-the-River Town") is a city in Walworth County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 3,261 according to the 2020 census. History Located i ...

. His grandfather was a Norwegian immigrant. His parents, George Theodore Mickelson and Madge Mickelson, were the

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

and First Lady of South Dakota from 1947 to 1951. Mickelson graduated from the

University of South Dakota The University of South Dakota (USD) is a public research university in Vermillion, South Dakota. Established by the Dakota Territory legislature in 1862, 27 years before the establishment of the state of South Dakota, USD is the flagship uni ...

with a bachelor's in business administration in 1963 and from the

University of South Dakota School of Law The University of South Dakota School of Law also known as University of South Dakota Knudson School of Law or USD Law in Vermillion, South Dakota, United States, is a professional school of the University of South Dakota and the only law school in ...

in 1965. He was a brother in

Lambda Chi Alpha Lambda Chi Alpha (), commonly known as Lambda Chi, is a college fraternity in North America which was founded at Boston University in 1909. It is one of the largest social fraternities in North America, with more than 300,000 lifetime members a ...

fraternity at USD. He served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, ...

, including a tour of duty in

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making ...

. He married Linda McCahren and they had three children, Amy, David and Mark.

Public service and plane crash

Mickelson served as South Dakota State Assistant Attorney General (1967–68) and South Dakota State Attorney,

Brookings County Brookings County is a county in the U.S. state of South Dakota. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 34,375, making it the fifth-most populous county in South Dakota. Its county seat is Brookings. The county was created in ...

(1971–74). First elected to the

South Dakota House of Representatives The South Dakota House of Representatives is the lower house of the South Dakota Legislature. It consists of 70 members, two from each legislative district. Two of the state's 35 legislative districts, Districts 26 and 28, are each subdivided into ...

in 1974, he held office there for six years, serving as Speaker for the final two years. Mickelson was elected governor in 1986 and reelected four years later. On April 19, 1993, Mickelson was one of eight people aboard a state-owned airplane returning to South Dakota from a lobbying effort in Ohio. The plane, a

Mitsubishi MU-2 The Mitsubishi MU-2 is a Japanese high-wing, twin-engine turboprop aircraft with a pressurized cabin manufactured by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. It made its maiden flight in September 1963 and was produced until 1986. It is one of postwar Japa ...

turboprop A turboprop is a turbine engine that drives an aircraft propeller. A turboprop consists of an intake, reduction gearbox, compressor, combustor, turbine, and a propelling nozzle. Air enters the intake and is compressed by the compressor. ...

, reported engine trouble while flying near

Dubuque, Iowa Dubuque (, ) is the county seat of Dubuque County, Iowa, United States, located along the Mississippi River. At the time of the 2020 census, the population of Dubuque was 59,667. The city lies at the junction of Iowa, Illinois, and Wisconsin, a r ...

, and crashed into a farm silo about four miles south of Zwingle. Everyone on the plane was killed. Mickelson was succeeded as governor by then-

Lieutenant Governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...

Walter Dale Miller. The crash happened on the same day as the end of the

Waco siege The Waco siege, also known as the Waco massacre, was the law enforcement siege of the compound that belonged to the religious sect Branch Davidians. It was carried out by the U.S. federal government, Texas state law enforcement, and the U.S. ...

, which overshadowed it in national news coverage.

Legacy

George S. Mickelson Middle School in Brookings is named after him, as is the

George S. Mickelson Trail The George S. Mickelson Trail is a rail trail in the Black Hills region of South Dakota. The main trail route extends , from Edgemont to Deadwood, with approximately nine miles of additional branch trails, including a three-mile (5 km) p ...

in the

Black Hills The Black Hills ( lkt, Ȟe Sápa; chy, Moʼȯhta-voʼhonáaeva; hid, awaxaawi shiibisha) is an isolated mountain range rising from the Great Plains of North America in western South Dakota and extending into Wyoming, United States. Black ...

and the George S. Mickelson Center for the Neurosciences in

Yankton, South Dakota Yankton is a city in and the county seat of Yankton County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 15,411 at the 2020 census, and it is the principal city of the Yankton Micropolitan Statistical Area, which includes the entirety of Y ...

. The George S. Mickelson Education Center at Southeast Technical Institute in

Sioux Falls, South Dakota Sioux Falls () is the most populous city in the U.S. state of South Dakota and the 130th-most populous city in the United States. It is the county seat of Minnehaha County and also extends into Lincoln County to the south, which continues up ...

, was built in 1990. The George S. Mickelson Great Service Award is given out annually by the South Dakota Office of Tourism. His alma mater, th
University of South Dakota
awards academically talented South Dakota students with high ACTs/SATs a full-tuition scholarship known as the George S. Mickelson Scholarship. It is the university's most prestigious scholarship.

References

External links

George S. Mickelson Great Service Award
* ttp://www.nga.org/cms/home/governors/past-governors-bios/page_south_dakota/col2-content/main-content-list/title_mickelson_george.html National Governors Associationbr>Dubuque, IA Area Governors Plane Crashes, Apr 1993
at GenDisasters.com * , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Mickelson, George S. 1941 births 1993 deaths 20th-century American lawyers 20th-century American politicians 1992 United States presidential electors Accidental deaths in Iowa Methodists from South Dakota American people of Norwegian descent District attorneys in South Dakota Republican Party governors of South Dakota People from Mobridge, South Dakota Republican Party members of the South Dakota House of Representatives South Dakota lawyers Speakers of the South Dakota House of Representatives United States Army personnel of the Vietnam War United States Army soldiers University of South Dakota School of Law alumni University of South Dakota alumni Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1993 Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in the United States

Early life and education

Public service and plane crash

Legacy

See also

References

External links