In Memorium | 2012 Inductee Gene Lebrun

Class of 2012 Inductee Gene Lebrun (1939-2023) passed away on Sunday, July 23, 2023. The South Dakota Hall of Fame extends our condolences to Gene’s wife, 2013 Inductee Pat Lebrun, and their family during this time.

The beautiful thing about one’s legacy is that it continues on and inspires generations to come. Gene’s legacy uplifts and exemplifies excellence.

Gene Lebrun was born in Langdon, North Dakota on July 4th, 1939. He grew up working on his father’s farm, along with two brothers and four sisters—spending many hours driving tractors, combines, and farm trucks.

Gene started first grade in a one-room country schoolhouse where students from first through eighth grade shared not only the classroom but a sole teacher. By the time he went into second grade, the Lebrun children transferred to the St. Alphonsus School in Langdon. In high school he was active in the Student Council serving as president, the school yearbook serving as co-editor, Future Farmers of America serving as reporter, varsity basketball, along with many other activities.

Following graduation from high school in 1957, Gene attended St. John’s University in Collegeville, Minnesota, graduating in 1961 with a BA degree in Political Science and a minor in history. While at St. John’s, he became an active member of the Young Democrats and served as president of that organization during the 1960-1961 school year. Before the November 1960 election, he had the privilege of introducing Senator Hubert Humphrey at a St. John’s campaign rally when the Senator was running for re-election.

Shortly after graduating from St. John’s, Gene went to work for the Social Security Administration in Sioux City, Iowa. However, at his father’s request that he return to North Dakota to assist in the fall harvest, with a promise to assist Gene through law school, was enough to convince Gene not to pursue a career as a federal bureaucrat.

The University of North Dakota (UND) School of Law was Gene’s pursuit for the next three years. He graduated with a J.D. degree in the spring of 1964. While in law school, Gene wrote for the Law Review and was one of two students to represent the North Dakota Law School in the First Appellate Moot Court Competition held at the University of Manitoba School of Law. Gene was also a representative of the Law School at the National Law Students Annual Meeting in San Francisco. Between his second and third years in law school, Gene married Patricia “Pat” Olson, who had graduated from UND with a degree in music in the spring of 1963.

Upon graduation from law school, Gene and Pat moved to Rapid City, South Dakota, where Gene went to work for the law firm of Whiting, Lynn, Jackson & Shultz.

Gene spent the next 48 years in the general practice of law—primarily engaged in representing business clients, intellectual property matters, educational law, and utility law. He was a member of the business law, utility law, and intellectual property law sections of the American Bar Association. He was also a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates, the Fellows of the American Bar Foundation, the American Law Institute, and the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws. Governor Richard Kneip appointed Gene to the Uniform Laws Commission in 1976, and he served as a Commissioner from South Dakota for decades.

From 1995-1997, Gene served as the Chair of the Executive Committee of the Uniform Laws Commission and as president from 1997-1999. He has served on many committees of the conference, chairing a number of them. Gene became a Life Member of the Uniform Laws Conference, as well as a Life Member of the South Dakota Uniform Legislation Commission, and remained active in both organizations.

Gene was elected to the South Dakota House of Representatives in the fall of 1970. He was among several others that were the first Democrats to be elected from Pennington County for over 30 years. Upon being re-elected in 1972, he was elected Speaker of the House at the age of 34 and was one of the youngest Speakers in the country. He was the third and last Democrat Speaker in South Dakota. (There have been two during the F.D.R. years as President of the United States.)

The 1973-1974 Sessions had an equal number of Democrats and Republicans in the State House and cooperation, coordination, and negotiated compromises were the order of the day. Major legislation such as the creation of the South Dakota Investment Council, the South Dakota Environmental Protection Act, and the Unified Judicial System were passed into law during those two years.

As part of the Internet Tax Freedom Act passed by the United States Congress in 1998, an Advisory Commission on Electronic Commerce was created. Senator Tom Daschle, then-Majority Leader of the U.S. Senate, appointed Gene as of the 18 members of that Commission. Other members included business and governmental leaders from around the nation, including Governors Gilmore (Virginia), Locke (Washington), and Levitt (Utah). The Commission completed its work and submitted its report to Congress in April of 2000. Gene also served as a member of the South Dakota Streamlined Sales Tax Task Force. He spoke around the country, and at a European Common Market meeting in Dusseldorf, Germany, on the matter of internet transaction taxation.

Gene was a member of the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology Foundation since 1971 and served as Chairman of the Board of Directors from 1985 to 1989. In addition, he served on the Mount Rushmore Society Board of Directors, serving as President from 2009 to 2011. He served on the Westhills Village Retirement Community Board of Directors since 1979, and he was chairman of the Board from 1993 to 1994.

Gene and Pat Lebrun have lived in Rapid City since 1964. They have two sons, Michael, his wife Elizabeth, and their three children, Katherine, Nicholas, and Anna, and his son Kenneth, his wife Laurie, and their two children, Sylvan and Max.

Service and visitation details can be found here: Obituary | Gene N. Lebrun