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George S. Mickelson
George S. Mickelson
	Mickelson in May 1989
28th Governor of South Dakota
	In office; January 6, 1987 – April 19, 1993
Lieutenant	Walter Dale Miller
Preceded by	Bill Janklow
Succeeded by	Walter Dale Miller
Personal details
Born	George Speaker Mickelson; January 31, 1941; Mobridge, South Dakota, U.S.
Died	April 19, 1993 (aged 52); Otter Creek Township, Jackson County, Iowa, U.S.
Cause of death	Plane crash
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Linda McCahren
Relatives	George Theodore Mickelson (father); Mark Mickelson (son)
Education	University of South Dakota (BA, JD)
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Branch/service	United States Army
Rank	Captain
Battles/wars	Vietnam War

George Speaker Mickelson (January 31, 1941 – April 19, 1993) was an American politician and Vietnam War veteran who served as the 28th governor of South Dakota from 1987 until his death in 1993 in a plane crash near Zwingle, Iowa.

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.^[1] He is a member of the prominent Mickelson family of South Dakota.

Early life and education

Mickelson was born in Mobridge, South Dakota. His grandfather was a Norwegian immigrant.^[2] His parents, George Theodore Mickelson and Madge Mickelson, were the Governor and First Lady of South Dakota from 1947 to 1951.

Mickelson graduated from the University of South Dakota with a bachelor's in business administration in 1963 and from the University of South Dakota School of Law in 1965. He was a brother in Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity at USD. He served in the United States Army, including a tour of duty in Vietnam.^[1] He married Linda McCahren and they had three children, Amy, David and Mark.^[3]

Public service and plane crash

Mickelson served as South Dakota State Assistant Attorney General (1967–68) and South Dakota State Attorney, Brookings County (1971–74). First elected to the South Dakota House of Representatives 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. ^[1]

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 turboprop, reported engine trouble while flying near Dubuque, Iowa, and crashed into a farm silo about four miles south of Zwingle.^[4] Everyone on the plane was killed. Mickelson was succeeded as governor by then-Lieutenant Governor Walter Dale Miller. The crash happened on the same day as the end of the Waco siege, which overshadowed it in national news coverage.^[5]^[6]^[4]^{[better source needed]}

Legacy

George S. Mickelson Middle School in Brookings is named after him, as is the George S. Mickelson Trail in the Black Hills and the George S. Mickelson Center for the Neurosciences in Yankton, South Dakota. The George S. Mickelson Education Center at Southeast Technical Institute in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, 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, the 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.^[7]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c "George Mickelson, 52, Governor Of South Dakota, Dies in a Crash". The New York Times. April 21, 1993. Retrieved May 7, 2017.
^ 1910 Census, Walworth County, South Dakota
^ "George S. Mickelson". Soylent Communications. Retrieved September 2, 2012.
^ ^a ^b "25 years ago today: Plane crash south of Dubuque kills S.D. governor, 7 others". Retrieved August 16, 2018.
^ "Governor George S. Mickelson. Years in Office: 1987-1993". Retrieved May 7, 2017.
^ "George S. Mickelson". www.nndb.com. Retrieved May 7, 2017.
^ "Admissions - USD - The University of South Dakota". admissions.usd.edu. Archived from the original on March 4, 2015. Retrieved May 7, 2017.

External links

George S. Mickelson Great Service Award
Governor George S. Mickelson portrait
New York Times Obituary: Governor George Mickelson 4/21/1993
National Governors Association
Dubuque, IA Area Governors Plane Crashes, Apr 1993 Archived December 1, 2021, at the Wayback Machine at GenDisasters.com
Appearances on C-SPAN

Political offices
Preceded by Lowell C. Hansen II	Speaker of the South Dakota House of Representatives 1979–1980	Succeeded by Walt Miller
Preceded by Bill Janklow	Governor of South Dakota 1987–1993	Succeeded by Walt Miller
Party political offices
Preceded by Bill Janklow	Republican nominee for Governor of South Dakota 1986, 1990	Succeeded by Bill Janklow