In Memoriam | 2018 Inductee Raymond "Ray" Peterson
The passing of 2018 Inductee Raymond Peterson, known as “Mr. South Dakota,” was announced on Tuesday, August 27, 2024. Ray, a long-time Miss South Dakota pageant producer and a dedicated figure in the art community passed away at StoneyBrook Suites Assisted Living. The South Dakota Hall of Fame shares our condolences with his loved ones at this time.
We are honored to uplift inductee legacies long after they have passed. We know just how much South Dakota Hall of Fame Inductees inspire generations of South Dakotans through their dynamic and inspiring life stories. Ray’s legacy is no exception to creating a ripple effect of inspiration.
A native of the small Kingsbury county town of Oldham, Ray grew up “behind the counter” of Melvin’s Store, a grocery and general merchandise business that his parents, Melvin and Helen Peterson, ran from 1939 until their retirement in 1972. As a child, Ray displayed his talents in music and art early in life singing for church, school, and community events, decorating store windows, and designing prize-winning floats for Oldham’s annual Field Day parade. Ray graduated from Oldham High School as class valedictorian in 1963 and attended Dakota State University (then General Beadle State College) where his Sweepstakes-winning float designs became legendary. Active in band, choir, theatre, and student government while cheerleading for both football and basketball, writing for the school newspaper, and editing the Trojan yearbook, Ray was named GBSC’s “Man of the Year” in 1966 and was also listed in the 1966 edition of Who’s Who among Students in American Universities and Colleges. He graduated Summa Cum Laude and served as General Beadle’s Director of Student Activities prior to entering the United States Army in 1969. Ray completed his basic training at Fort Lewis, Washington, his schooling in transportation documentation at Fort Eustis, Virginia, and his service as a Transportation Specialist in Long Binh, Vietnam, where on January 18, 1971, he was presented The Bronze Star Medal for Meritorious Achievement.
Ray enrolled as a Graduate Teaching Assistant in Speech and Theatre at South Dakota State University in 1971, graduating with a Master of Arts Degree in Speech and Theatre in 1973. He immediately became the full-time Designer/Technical Director for State University Theatre, a position Ray held for 31 years prior to becoming the administrative Director of Theatre in 2003. During his 40-year tenure at SDSU, Ray designed sets and costumes for over 200 theatre productions, directed countless musicals for both State University Theatre and Prairie Repertory Theatre and served as the faculty advisor to the Alpha Psi Omega Dramatics Honorary Fraternity, coordinating and leading countless theatre student field trips to Minneapolis, Chicago and New York City – resulting in a cherished collection of over 350 Broadway Playbills from the plays and musicals seen between 1972 and 2011. In 1976 Ray produced and directed SDSU’s Red, White and Blue Bicentennial Revue, “Traveling with Uncle Sam,” which opened in Brookings before traveling throughout South Dakota and culminating at the annual Sioux Empire Farm Show in Sioux Falls. In 1989, as part of South Dakota’s Centennial observance, Ray once again served as both producer and director for SDSU’s state-wide touring musical, “South Dakota Proud.”The show’s 62 performances played to 29,872 people in 40 different communities before closing with two packed-house amphitheater performances at Mt. Rushmore as part of the Monument’s Fourth of July Centennial Celebration.
Over the past five decades, Ray also served as a judge for many speech-related activities including the SDHSAA State Oral Interpretation Contest, the One-Act Play Festival, and the state-wide Poetry Out Loud Contest. Among the numerous awards and honors Ray received for his services to the state and to higher education:
• Three-time SDSU “Teacher of the Year” honors in the College of Arts and Sciences in 1981, 1984 and in 2002.
• The 1984 Dakota State University Distinguished Alumnus Award in recognition of Ray’s Distinguished Services to his Community, Profession, and Dakota State University.
• The 1988 F.O. Butler Foundation Award for Excellence through Innovative and Creative Activity.
• The Dakota State University Centennial Alumnus Award in 1988 for outstanding contributions to DSU and the state of South Dakota.
• The 1995 4-H Good Neighbor Award for annually designing and constructing stage sets for the South Dakota Summer 4-H Performing Arts Program.
• The 1997 Friends of the Arts Award presented for Outstanding Contribution to the Arts in the Brookings Community.
• Grand Marshall, 1998 SDSU Hobo Day Parade for service to the university and the SDSU Alumni Association.
• The Outstanding Speech Educator in South Dakota Award for the year 2000 presented by the National Federation Interscholastic Speech and Debate Association for Outstanding Service and Unselfish Devotion to Interscholastic Speech Programs in South Dakota.
• The 2002 South Dakota High School Activities Association Distinguished Service Award for Outstanding Service to the Oral Interpretation and One-Act Play Programs in South Dakota.
• The Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival Meritorious Achievement Award in Scenic Design in 2002.
• The 2006 South Dakota Speech Communication Association Distinguished Service Award for Exemplary Service and Dedication to Speech Activities in South Dakota.
• Named Professor Emeritus of Communication Studies and Theatre by the South Dakota Board of Regents. Proclamation adopted March 31, 2011.
• Upon retirement, named Honorary Marshall with 40 years of dedicated service to SDSU and the state of South Dakota;led procession and carried the Ceremonial Graduation Mace at the 2011 Spring Commencement.
• Elected President of the SDSU Retired Faculty Association, September 18, 2014.
In addition to his contributions in education, over the years Ray was willing to share his musical and artistic talents through church and community-related activities. As an artist, he was instrumental in designing and chairing the Decorations Committee for the annual Brookings Evening for the Arts and, for a number of years, spearheaded the Community Cultural Center Festival of Trees. As a vocalist, Ray has sung for literally hundreds of weddings and funerals throughout the state of South Dakota and beyond. He regularly shared his talents with the elderly by singing at Assisted Living Centers and nursing facilities throughout the area. He was a member of Dr. Rick Holm’s Hopeful Spirit Choral, a group that performs for hospice patients or anyone in need of an uplift. As a member of First Lutheran Church, Ray served on the Church Council and sang in the Sanctuary Choir in addition to adding special visual elements to the church sanctuary and Mission Coffee House during Advent and special celebrations throughout the church calendar year.
Apart from his routine activities, Ray also enjoyed traveling. His lifetime travels, in addition to Vietnam, took him to Australia, Hong Kong, England, the Netherlands, France, Italy, Greece, the Grecian Islands, Turkey, Scotland, Norway, the Canadian Rockies, and to 44 states including both Alaska and Hawaii. Although he didn’t consider himself to be a photographer, Ray rarely went anywhere without a camera. His countless photo albums filled with friends and family, school activities, special events, trips, and travels – all proved that he was there and had done it.
Perhaps Ray’s favorite involvement and most notable state-wide contribution came as a direct result of an invitation to serve as a vocalist for the 1966 Miss South Dakota Pageant in Hot Springs – an invitation that led to a 52-year commitment to the Miss America-franchised organization as Producer and Production Director – a challenging position with an annual requirement of picking a new theme, selecting, editing and recording theme-supported music, securing choreographers and entertainers, designing the set and costumes, writing the script, turning a bare gymnasium space into a “theatre,” and then directing the show – year after year. Sounds like work. You bet! Especially in 1985 when a fire in Case Auditorium forced a last-minute pageant move to the Red Eye Saloon! But there were perks, too, for Ray’s involvement with the Miss America Pageant system has also provided him with an opportunity to travel while judging forty-three state pageants, to serve on the National Association of Miss America State Pageant Board of Directors, and in the late 1980s, to serve as Assistant Director to the Miss America Pageant which he continued to attend annually. In recognition of Ray’s 50-plus years of dedicated volunteer service, in 2016 the Miss America Organization presented Ray with the Miss America Crowning Achievement Award and South Dakota Governor Dennis Daugaard proclaimed June 18, 2016, as “Ray Peterson Day” –resulting in Ray being affectionately known by all as “Mr. South Dakota.”