Lorna Herseth

Herseth was born in Columbia, South Dakota on April 5, 1909.[1][2] Her parents, Albert and Ida Yeske Buntrock, were German immigrants.[3] She was the youngest of 11 children.[3] Herseth attended Northern State Teacher's College and earned a teaching credential after two years of study.[4][2]

She married Ralph Herseth, who served as Governor of South Dakota from 1959 to 1961, on December 23, 1937.[1][2] They had dated for nine years prior to getting married.[4] Together they had three children, Karen, Connie, and Ralph Lars.[2]

Their son, Ralph Lars Herseth, served in the South Dakota State Legislature.[1] Their granddaughter, Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, served in the United States House of Representatives.[1] Herseth served as mentor to Sandlin.[4] During her life, Herseth lived in Houghton, South Dakota and in Pierre, South Dakota.[1][2] She was a Lutheran.[1] She died on September 8, 1994, and was buried in Houghton Cemetery.[1]

After college, Herseth taught in the Brown County public schools as well as in urban schools.[2][4] In 1936, Herseth was elected as Brown County Superintendent of Schools.[5][4][2] For seven years, she served on Brown County's Reorganization School Board.[2] She later served on the Selby School Board.[2]

Four years after Ralph's death, activists approached Herseth about running for state office herself.[4] She twice was elected Secretary of State of South Dakota, and served from 1973 to 1979.[5]

Herseth served on the board of directors for the Brown County Red Cross and as the state director of the Easter Seal Society for Crippled Children and Adults.[2]