Kenneth Stofferahn

Kenneth Darrell Stofferahn, 89, died peacefully at his home in Lincoln, Nebraska on March 18, 2024. Widely known across South Dakota, Ken traversed the state countless times during his long career in farming, activism, politics, and insurance. He passed away in the company of his beloved wife of 58 years, Diane (Henderson) Stofferahn and his three surviving children, Stacey (Stofferahn) Uthe, Stuart Stofferahn, and Steven Stofferahn.

Born on April 5, 1934 to Edward and Ida (Mundt) Stofferahn, Ken grew up on farms near Lakefield, Minnesota and Humboldt, South Dakota. The family, including three brothers and two sisters, often joked that “baby Kenny was the only crop that came in that year.” Raised in the depths of the Great Depression, he learned early on from his parents the virtues of perseverance and, especially from his mother, compassion for people in need—core values that profoundly guided his later career in politics. Ken graduated from Humboldt High School in 1952, enlisted in the Air National Guard, and earned a Bachelor’s degree in agriculture from South Dakota State University in 1957. After a brief stint in business in Milwaukee, he returned home to farm 480 acres with his parents. Perceiving the need for farmers to band together to ensure a fair return for their hard work and investment and drawing upon a family tradition of activism, he joined the National Farmers Organization in 1961, quickly rising in the group’s ranks to become a board member and, from 1968-1972, Director of National Membership in Corning, Iowa. It was during his NFO-related travels across the country that he met his future wife, Diane Henderson, in Colfax, Wisconsin. The couple wed on August 7, 1965 and, after leaving the NFO in early 1972, moved back to Humboldt to raise their four children on the family farm until relocating to Pierre in 1979.

Ken’s colorful political career began with a longshot bid in the 1972 Republican primary for the U.S. Senate. Though a loss, that experience initiated over two decades of public service in South Dakota, first as a local School Board member, then as a Representative in the State Legislature (1975-1977), where he championed public education, an issue of enduring importance to him and Diane, an elementary schoolteacher. Changing party affiliation to more closely reflect his core beliefs, Ken ran as a Democrat for the rest of his career, with notable yet unsuccessful primary and general election bids for the U.S. Senate (1978), U.S. House (1980), and Governor (1986). South Dakota voters, however, roundly endorsed his role as a Public Utilities Commissioner, awarding him successful races in 1978, 1984, and 1990, thereby making him one of the few Democrats able to win a statewide election after the party’s brief dominance in the 1970s had waned. Having twice served as the Commission’s Chairman, Stofferahn retired from the PUC in 1997. Hearkening to the lessons he learned from his mother and from his hero, Harry Truman, Ken believed—perhaps naively at times—that politics was where people of good conscience and common sense could come together to improve the world around them. Having come of age at a time when philosophical differences seemingly yielded on occasion to honorable compromise, he was genuinely surprised by the no-holds-barred approach to politics that took hold in the latter part of his career, as reflected in the two times he was obliged to fight for his political life before the State’s Supreme Court. But survive he did, prompting one longtime colleague to observe, “I’ve never known anyone who could stand the heat like you could.” Following several years as a financial advisor and insurance agent, Ken and Diane relocated to Lincoln, Nebraska in 2006.

Although Ken certainly had a stubborn streak that family, friends, and allies could find perplexing at times, he was naturally affable, open-minded, and kind, and loved to bring people together. His prodigious memory made him a font of family history, and he was especially pleased when he was able to reconnect with relatives still living in Mecklenburg, Germany. Along with several lifelong friends, Ken shared a passion for the “sweet dance music” of the 1940s, with a special fondness for the Russ Morgan Orchestra. Above all, he loved spending time with his family.

Though tragically predeceased by his oldest son, Mike, in 2001, Ken is survived by his wife, Diane (Henderson) Stofferahn; daughter Stacey Uthe (Reed), Kansas City, Missouri; son Stuart Stofferahn (Heather Castle), Lincoln, Nebraska; son Steven Stofferahn (Maggie Dalrymple), Terre Haute, Indiana; daughter-in-law Kelli (Gray Stofferahn) Muck, Rapid City, South Dakota; eight grand-children; and younger sister Lois Anderson (Rudy) of Custer, South Dakota.

Gifts in Ken’s honor may be forwarded to the St. Paul Cemetery Association, c/o St. Paul Lutheran Church, P.O. Box 137, Humboldt, SD 57035. Ken was a lifelong Lutheran, belonging to the congregations of St. Paul’s in Humboldt, Lutheran Memorial in Pierre, and First Lutheran in Lincoln.

Visitation will be at Colonial Chapel Funeral Home in Lincoln from 5-8 PM, Friday, March 22, 2024, with an online guestbook available at www.lincolnccfh.com.

A memorial service will be held at 9 AM Saturday, March 23 at First Lutheran Church, 1551 S 70th St, Lincoln, NE.

Interment to follow at St. Paul Cemetery in Humboldt, South Dakota at 4 PM, Saturday, March 23, 2024.