Sinner was born on May 29, 1928,[2][3] in Fargo and was raised in Casselton, the youngest of four children to Albert Francis Sinner, a farmer and bookkeeper for Ford Motor Co.,[4] and his wife, Katherine Augusta Wild.[5][6]
Coming from a background of farming, Sinner served as president of the Red River Valley Sugarbeet Growers Association Board from 1975 to 1979. During that time, he chaired an ad hoc farm commodity group that was responsible for funding and constructing the greenhouse complex and the Northern Crops Institute at North Dakota State University in Fargo. He served as a member of many other boards and organizations, including the North Dakota Broadcasting Council and the State Board of Higher Education. During his time on the State Board of Higher Education, he helped craft the "Tri-college" system currently used by NDSU, MSUM and Concordia College, Moorhead. This program allows students attending one of the schools to take classes not offered there at one of the others.[8]
Governor of North Dakota 1985-1992
Sinner was elected governor of North Dakotain 1984 and reelected in 1988.[9] The starting date of Sinner's first term was disputed with defeated outgoing Governor Allen I. Olson.[10][9] Sinner held that the term started January 1 and Olson held that the term began on January 6, four years after his own term began.[9] At that time, the date was not clearly set forth in either state law or the state constitution.[9] The North Dakota Supreme Court settled the issue in Sinner's favor on January 5, 1985, one day before Olson would have vacated office anyway.[9] Olson failed to comply with the decision and did not vacate the governor's office until the following day, but Sinner's term was retroactively recognized to have begun on January 1.[9][11]
During Sinner's governorship, North Dakota suffered through the 1980s Midwestern farm crisis and in 1989 celebrated the state's centennial.[6] The North Dakota National Guard was also called to serve in the Gulf War in 1991 as part of Operation Desert Storm.[10] In Sinner's memoir, "Turning Points," published in 2011, he explains his rationale for declaring the nation's first no-smoking policy in a state capitol building and also details the emergency, middle-of-the-night "heart flight" he ordered to deliver a donor heart to a waiting infant recipient in San Francisco. The infant continues to thrive. Sinner did not seek a third term and was succeeded by RepublicanEd Schafer.[8]
Later career
Following his second term, Sinner served as Vice President of Public and Government Relations for the Crystal Sugar Company in Moorhead, Minnesota.[10] Throughout his career, he remained active in his farming operation near Casselton.[6] Sinner's son George B. Sinner served in the North Dakota Senate from 2013 to 2017.[10]
Personal life
Sinner was married to Elizabeth Jane Baute on August 10, 1951, and had 10 children (Robert, George, Elizabeth, Martha, Paula, Mary Jo, James, Gerard, Joseph, and Eric).[7][12] He died on March 9, 2018, at age 89, at Eventide Senior Living Communities, in Fargo, North Dakota. [10] At the time of his death, he was the last surviving North Dakota governor from the Democratic-NPL party.
