The sad news comes that Royal “Mac” McCracken died late last week, aged 83. McCracken was an eight-year state senator from Rapid City, following a long career with Northwestern Bell/US West that included time in government and public affairs.
Mac represented District 34, generally the Canyon Lake area of Rapid City, in the State Senate from 2001-08. He was a majority whip in 2002 and assistant leader in 2003-04, serving with Majority Leader Eric Bogue.
This blogger came to first know Mac during the 2002 Rounds for Governor campaign, when I ran the Rounds field office in Rapid City. Mac was a frequent visitor to our campaign office, bringing not just his ever present smile and cheerful personality, but also considerable help in making connections in the Rapid City area. Our campaign had a young mother as a full-time volunteer on the campaign, and I can distinctly remember Mac diving onto the floor to play with her three young children, who were all under 4 or 5.
Mac was also a good friend of my father-in-law, Dennis Daugaard. Mac and his wife, Bev, were longtime and active supporters of Children’s Home Society, where Dennis served in leadership roles for many years. When Mac entered the State Senate in 2001, Dennis was his seatmate. That was the session that I served as a Senate Page and first met both Mac and Dennis. A few years later, in 2010, Mac served as the Pennington County Chair for the Daugaard for Governor campaign, even allowing our campaign staffer to stay at his house.
Mac McCracken was impossible not to like. Community leaders who volunteer their time to serve are what make South Dakota great, and Mac was an outstanding example of that kind of service.
Senator McCracken’s obituary is posted here. Services will be held on Saturday, June 28 at South Canyon Lutheran Church in Rapid City at 3 pm.
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