Former South Dakota Gov. Frank Farrar, whose uncanny rise to politics as a young man quickly morphed into a career as a banker and philanthropist, died Sunday. He was 92.
Gov. Kristi Noem, who confirmed his death as while as officials from the South Dakota Hall of Fame, ordered flags to be flown at half-staff in memory of Farrar.
Farrar was the youngest person in South Daktoa history to be elected state attorney general. Farrar became the state’s 24th governor in 1968. Farrar ran unopposed for the Republican nomination and easily won the general election.
But his political fame was short-lived. He had the distinction of being the last elected incumbent governor to lose reelection when, in 1970, he lost his bid for a second term to Democrat Dick Kneip.
