Lee Jorgensen, former Tripp County Democratic Chairmen, Dies
Sad news for Tripp County Democrats and the family of Lee Jorgensen of Witten, SD.
Lee died after heart bypass surgery in Sioux Falls a day or two ago..probably on April 30. I have not yet read an official obituary.
A family member indicated the funeral will be Thursday, May 5, 2005 at 2PM. Services will be at the Winner Trinity Episcopal Church.
Lee spent a good part of his life editing or writing for newspapers or college and university agriculture publications. He and wife Darlene "retired" to a house they were working on just north of Witten, SD near the farm place of Darlene's parents Orville and Luverne Smith...also some very good Tripp County Democrats. Lee was Chairmen of the Tripp County Democratic Party for a year or two and also a candidate for the South Dakota legislature.
I (and I am sure many more Democrats in Tripp County) extend sincere sympathy to Darlene and to the four? sons Darlene and Lee reared..
I am also sure that more information will be posted here in the future about Lee as we actually get some more information. Lee's death was a complete surprise to many of us. I just saw him at a local store a week ago and he wondered how I was feeling. I think Lee was about 70 years old and would have had one more birthday aniversary on May 6 based on information from Marian Jorgensen, widow of Harry V. Jorgensen,..Lee's brother.
UPDATE:. The obiturary published in papers today follows.
.• Lee M. Jorgensen, Winner, SD - 05/04/05
Winner - Lee M. Jorgensen, long-time journalist and Tripp County, South Dakota rancher, died unexpectedly at the age of 71 on Sunday, May 1, 2005, at the Heart Hospital of South Dakota, from a pulmonary blood clot following heart bypass surgery in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
Mr. Jorgensen was born May 6, 1933 west of Winner, SD. He began his journalism career as the advertising manager for the Winner Advocate after being discharged from the army in 1956. He attended South Dakota State University on the GI Bill and graduated in 1960, lettering in wrestling and making the dean´s list every semester. Upon graduation, he became the News Director and later Managing Editor of the Winner Advocate. In 1963, he became a Sunday Features Writer for the Sioux City Journal, and in 1966, he became half owner and Editor of the Vermillion Plain Talk. In 1967, he became the Assistant Agricultural Editor and later the Ag News and Features Editor for South Dakota State University, serving on the Academic Senate, completing his master´s degree in journalism in 1972, and teaching a course in interpretive journalism and serving as a guest lecturer in investigative journalism. In 1978, he became the Associate Extension News Editor at Kansas State University, achieving the status of associate professor and ultimately serving as Agricultural News Coordinator. In 1996, he retired from journalism and returned to Winner, SD, where he and his wife, Darlene (Smith) Jorgensen, assumed management of her parents´ cattle and buffalo ranch near Witten, SD.
Mr. Jorgensen received numerous professional and community awards, including the South Dakota Press Association´s first place award for news and features, the Iowa Press Association´s award for daily newspaper feature writing, induction into the Rosebud Sioux Tribe as an honorary member for his reporting on and promotion of tribal events, for which he was given the Lakota name "Lone Wolf", and being the first recipient of the national Oscar in Agriculture Award for university journalism. He was also the recipient of the Golden Arc Award for human-interest news from Kansas State University and the Press Award of Excellence from the Agricultural Communicators in Education. He also worked extensively in the Master Farmer/Master Homemaker program conducted through KSU Cooperative Extension Service. Mr. Jorgensen´s work was published in the Wall Street Journal, Forbes Magazine, Reader´s Digest, National Geographic, True West and many other national, regional and local publications. He was elected president of the SD chapter of the National Association of Retired Federal Employees in 2003. In 1998 and 2000, he ran as the Democratic nominee for the SD State House of Representatives in Western South Dakota´s 26th District. He was also Senior Warden of both St. Paul Episcopal Church in Brookings, SD and Trinity Episcopal Church of Winner, SD.
Mr. Jorgensen, his wife, Darlene, and their four sons built many of the houses in which they lived, often salvaging lumber from old homes and recycling the lumber. He recently completed construction of the home he shared with his wife on the family ranch near Witten, SD, using lumber salvaged from the three story Hamill, SD school house. Mr. Jorgensen was an avid sailor, having sailed with his sons in the British Virgin Islands, all of the SD Great Lakes of the Missouri River, and many of the lakes of Eastern SD.
Mr. Jorgensen married Darlene D. Smith of Witten, SD on April 2, 1956. He was a devoted husband for 49 years. He is survived by Darlene and their four sons: Langdon, 48, his wife, B.J., and their two daughters of Denver, CO; Brian, 46, his wife, Edna, and their three children of Witten, SD; Stuart, 44, his wife, Amy, and their two daughters of Denver, CO; and Blake, 41, his wife, Kelly, and their three daughters of Ottawa, KS; and two brothers, Jack of Denver, CO and Richard of Albuquerque, NM. He is also survived by his twin sister, Leah of San Francisco, CA, and by his father-in-law, Orville Smith of Witten, SD, and numerous nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by his parents, A.L. "Tony" and Gladys Jorgensen, his brother, Harry V. Jorgenson, and his mother-in-law, Luevern Smith.
Funeral services will be held Thursday, May 5, 2005 at 2:00 PM at Trinity Episcopal Church in Winner. Burial will be in the Winner Cemetery. Visitation will begin Wednesday, May 4, 2005 from 4:00 PM to 8:00 PM at Mason Funeral Home in Winner. A prayer service will begin at 7:00 PM at the funeral home.
Lee died after heart bypass surgery in Sioux Falls a day or two ago..probably on April 30. I have not yet read an official obituary.
A family member indicated the funeral will be Thursday, May 5, 2005 at 2PM. Services will be at the Winner Trinity Episcopal Church.
Lee spent a good part of his life editing or writing for newspapers or college and university agriculture publications. He and wife Darlene "retired" to a house they were working on just north of Witten, SD near the farm place of Darlene's parents Orville and Luverne Smith...also some very good Tripp County Democrats. Lee was Chairmen of the Tripp County Democratic Party for a year or two and also a candidate for the South Dakota legislature.
I (and I am sure many more Democrats in Tripp County) extend sincere sympathy to Darlene and to the four? sons Darlene and Lee reared..
I am also sure that more information will be posted here in the future about Lee as we actually get some more information. Lee's death was a complete surprise to many of us. I just saw him at a local store a week ago and he wondered how I was feeling. I think Lee was about 70 years old and would have had one more birthday aniversary on May 6 based on information from Marian Jorgensen, widow of Harry V. Jorgensen,..Lee's brother.
UPDATE:. The obiturary published in papers today follows.
.• Lee M. Jorgensen, Winner, SD - 05/04/05
Winner - Lee M. Jorgensen, long-time journalist and Tripp County, South Dakota rancher, died unexpectedly at the age of 71 on Sunday, May 1, 2005, at the Heart Hospital of South Dakota, from a pulmonary blood clot following heart bypass surgery in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
Mr. Jorgensen was born May 6, 1933 west of Winner, SD. He began his journalism career as the advertising manager for the Winner Advocate after being discharged from the army in 1956. He attended South Dakota State University on the GI Bill and graduated in 1960, lettering in wrestling and making the dean´s list every semester. Upon graduation, he became the News Director and later Managing Editor of the Winner Advocate. In 1963, he became a Sunday Features Writer for the Sioux City Journal, and in 1966, he became half owner and Editor of the Vermillion Plain Talk. In 1967, he became the Assistant Agricultural Editor and later the Ag News and Features Editor for South Dakota State University, serving on the Academic Senate, completing his master´s degree in journalism in 1972, and teaching a course in interpretive journalism and serving as a guest lecturer in investigative journalism. In 1978, he became the Associate Extension News Editor at Kansas State University, achieving the status of associate professor and ultimately serving as Agricultural News Coordinator. In 1996, he retired from journalism and returned to Winner, SD, where he and his wife, Darlene (Smith) Jorgensen, assumed management of her parents´ cattle and buffalo ranch near Witten, SD.
Mr. Jorgensen received numerous professional and community awards, including the South Dakota Press Association´s first place award for news and features, the Iowa Press Association´s award for daily newspaper feature writing, induction into the Rosebud Sioux Tribe as an honorary member for his reporting on and promotion of tribal events, for which he was given the Lakota name "Lone Wolf", and being the first recipient of the national Oscar in Agriculture Award for university journalism. He was also the recipient of the Golden Arc Award for human-interest news from Kansas State University and the Press Award of Excellence from the Agricultural Communicators in Education. He also worked extensively in the Master Farmer/Master Homemaker program conducted through KSU Cooperative Extension Service. Mr. Jorgensen´s work was published in the Wall Street Journal, Forbes Magazine, Reader´s Digest, National Geographic, True West and many other national, regional and local publications. He was elected president of the SD chapter of the National Association of Retired Federal Employees in 2003. In 1998 and 2000, he ran as the Democratic nominee for the SD State House of Representatives in Western South Dakota´s 26th District. He was also Senior Warden of both St. Paul Episcopal Church in Brookings, SD and Trinity Episcopal Church of Winner, SD.
Mr. Jorgensen, his wife, Darlene, and their four sons built many of the houses in which they lived, often salvaging lumber from old homes and recycling the lumber. He recently completed construction of the home he shared with his wife on the family ranch near Witten, SD, using lumber salvaged from the three story Hamill, SD school house. Mr. Jorgensen was an avid sailor, having sailed with his sons in the British Virgin Islands, all of the SD Great Lakes of the Missouri River, and many of the lakes of Eastern SD.
Mr. Jorgensen married Darlene D. Smith of Witten, SD on April 2, 1956. He was a devoted husband for 49 years. He is survived by Darlene and their four sons: Langdon, 48, his wife, B.J., and their two daughters of Denver, CO; Brian, 46, his wife, Edna, and their three children of Witten, SD; Stuart, 44, his wife, Amy, and their two daughters of Denver, CO; and Blake, 41, his wife, Kelly, and their three daughters of Ottawa, KS; and two brothers, Jack of Denver, CO and Richard of Albuquerque, NM. He is also survived by his twin sister, Leah of San Francisco, CA, and by his father-in-law, Orville Smith of Witten, SD, and numerous nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by his parents, A.L. "Tony" and Gladys Jorgensen, his brother, Harry V. Jorgenson, and his mother-in-law, Luevern Smith.
Funeral services will be held Thursday, May 5, 2005 at 2:00 PM at Trinity Episcopal Church in Winner. Burial will be in the Winner Cemetery. Visitation will begin Wednesday, May 4, 2005 from 4:00 PM to 8:00 PM at Mason Funeral Home in Winner. A prayer service will begin at 7:00 PM at the funeral home.