Debra Anderson, first woman speaker of SD House dies

Debra Anderson, who served as the first and only woman Speaker of the South Dakota House of Representatives, died at her home Nov. 10, according to her obituary.

Anderson served in the House from 1976-1989 as a Republican representing Sioux Falls, according to her obituary. She was elected to serve as Speaker of the House, following the 1986 general election. She had previously served as Majority Whip

She resigned from her position in the legislature in 1989, after she was appointed to serve as former President George H.W. Bush's Deputy Assistant to the President and Director of Intergovernmental Affairs, according to SoDak Govs, a South Dakota legislative history blog.

Anderson continued to work in the public sector, working for former Minnesota Gov. Arne Carlson and after moving to Washington D.C. in 1998, volunteering for the George W. Bush White House, according to her obituary.

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Anderson was born in 1949 in Bryant, South Dakota. She graduated from Bryant High School in 1967 and enrolled in Augustana College where she graduated in 1971, according to her obituary.

Funeral services are planned for Dec. 10 in Farina, Illinois at the Farina United Methodist Church.

Rep. Dusty Johnson called Anderson a "trailblazer in South Dakota politics and in the White House," on Twitter.

This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: Debra Anderson, first woman speaker of SD House dies