Longtime South Dakota US Senator Tim Johnson Has Died

Former South Dakota Senator Tim Johnson, who served 18 years in the Senate and a decade in the House of Representatives, has died.

A family spokesperson announced that Johnson passed away Tuesday evening at 8 p.m. He was 77 years old.

Tim married Barbara Brooks in 1969. The couple has three children: Brooks, of Millis, MA; Brendan, the former U.S. Attorney for South Dakota; and Kelsey Billion of Sioux Falls, SD. The Johnsons have eight grandchildren. 

South Dakota political influencer and family friend Steve Hildebrand shared this from Drey Samuelson, longtime Chief of Staff to former U.S. Senator Tim Johnson...

...Very sad to lose Tim. He was one of my very first mentors in public service, a friend of 40 years, a great boss and most importantly, a great public servant for South Dakota and our nation.

I will miss him dearly. My thoughts are with his wonderful family and his extended family and friends here in South Dakota and across the nation.

Details of his service will be shared shortly.

It's with great sadness that I write these words: our former boss, our good friend, Tim Johnson, has departed this life.

He died a few hours ago, surrounded by his family, but also surrounded by the love and admiration that all of us have felt for him for many years.

When it became was obvious a few days ago that this was the journey that Tim was about to go on, I wrote the following message to Barb:

“It's hard to imagine someone living a life more meaningful and impactful than Tim's--and, in the end, impact and meaning are the best that any of us can hope to achieve. Tim succeeded in reaching those goals way beyond what I'm sure were his wildest dreams when he was a young man. But that success obviously doesn't make saying goodbye to him any easier, I know, and there's nothing that anyone can say that will help that, much as I wish otherwise.”

And it's also true that few people have been impacted more directly than those of us who had the pleasure and privilege to work both with and for Tim, as I'm sure all of us realize.

I know from talking to them that Tim and Barb regarded one of the highlights of their service as having given a start to the careers of so many wonderful people, doing so many important things.

Many people on the outside will not consider--or even be aware--of that accomplishment, but there's no doubt that he considered it one of the most significant of his career, and I'm sure that everyone of us will agree.

As I wrote, there’s nothing easy about saying goodbye to someone we loved and admired so much, but the truth is that Tim Johnson will live on in our hearts forever, and he will also live on in the lives that we touch ourselves, in the days to come.