Norma Jensen Klinkel

Norma Lucille Jensen Klinkel.jpg
Norma Lucille Jensen Klinkel Vanity Fair @1941.jpg

Norma Jensen Klinkel

1921-2000

Norma Jensen Klinkel earned a B.S. in Business Administration from USD where she was co-valedictorian of the Class of 1942. Norma and her husband owned two businesses prior to Norma joining InterLakes Community Action as the director of the Head Start program and then Senior Citizen Coordinator. Political activism was in Norma’s genes. She was active in the Democratic party serving as Vice-Chair. In 1974, Norma Klinkel unseated Winston Barness and was the first woman elected to serve on the SD Public Utilities Commission. In fact, she was the first woman in the United States to be elected, not appointed, to a state public utilities commission where she led as Chair. She did not seek re-election in 1980 and served from 1975-1981.

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