Former State Treasurer Dave Volk dies at 79

Former South Dakota State Treasurer Dave Volk, the longest-serving treasurer in state history and a prominent figure in state government for three decades, died Friday at age 79.

A Mitchell native and Vietnam veteran, Volk was only 25 years old when he was elected state treasurer in 1972, making him the youngest person ever elected to statewide office in South Dakota at that time. First elected during the administration of Gov. Richard Kneip, he remained in statewide office through the administrations of Bill Janklow and George S. Mickelson, winning reelection in 1974, 1978, 1982 and 1986.

Uniquely, Volk also served simultaneously in 1983-84 as commissioner of school and public lands; he was appointed by Governor Bill Janklow in a failed effort to merge the offices. Volk is the only person in state history to hold two constitutional offices at once.

In 1988, Volk sought higher office, winning the Republican nomination for South Dakota’s lone seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. He lost the general election to Democratic incumbent Tim Johnson, who was reelected to a second term by a wide margin.

Volk resigned as state treasurer in 1990, but returned to state government four years later when Gov. Bill Janklow appointed him Secretary of Commerce and Regulation. He served throughout Janklow’s second eight-year governorship, from 1995 until late 2002.

Volk’s career outside elective office was nearly as varied. Drafted into the Army after graduating from Northern State University, Volk served in Vietnam as a combat photographer with the 101st Airborne Division and received the Bronze Star and Army Commendation Medal. Later in life, he became an author, writing about his wartime experiences and co-authoring a series of South Dakota-themed children’s books with former Attorney General Mark Meierhenry.

Volk’s career spanned an unusual breadth of South Dakota public life: soldier, statewide elected official, congressional nominee, cabinet secretary, veterans advocate, author and community volunteer. Few South Dakotans of his generation served the state in so many different ways.

Volk’s full obituary can be read here.