RAPID CITY, S.D. (KELO) — Johnson served five terms in the U-S House of Representatives and three as a U.S. Senator.
Throughout his political career, Tim Johnson worked with people on both sides of the aisle… and with people on both sides of South Dakota.
“Wasn’t afraid to cross over the aisles and work on issues of importance. We have out here in West River I think we point to a number of different things with obviously the talk about the work he did on water projects across the state. The Mni Wiconi project comes to mind,” former West River Congressional Service Director Darrell Shoemaker said.
Darrell Shoemaker was Johnson’s West River Congressional Service Director.
He says Johnson also fought for Ellsworth Air Force Base.
One thing that kept coming up was how respected the former senator was regardless if you were a Republican, Democrat or Independent. And that he was constantly working to help those in South Dakota, always looking to the future when solving issues.
“He was known as a workhorse, not a showhorse,” Shoemaker said. “There were a lot of things that he did that didn’t make the headlines, in fact a lot of times he kind of stepped back and worked hard behind the scenes . Others might have gotten the publicity or the headlines, but really just wanted to kind of work and take on the next project.”
Shoemaker also said Johnson truly cared about people and he made sure those around him knew it.
A funeral service for Johnson will be held at 10:30 a.m. Friday, October 18th at Our Savior’s Lutheran Church in Sioux Falls.
