Richard Kneip, Ex-Envoy, South Dakota Governor, Dies

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. —  Richard Kneip, a former U.S. diplomat and the South Dakota governor credited with modernizing state government in the 1970s, has died in a local hospital following surgery.

Kneip, a Democrat, was the only person ever elected to three terms as governor of South Dakota. He left the post in August, 1978, when President Jimmy Carter named him U.S. ambassador to Singapore. He left that assignment a year later to work on Carter’s unsuccessful reelection campaign, then started a consulting firm here.

As governor, he proposed the reorganization of the executive branch into a cabinet system that was approved by voters in 1972. He also worked to reform the state’s tax system and persuaded the Legislature to repeal the tax on household appliances and personal property.

Kneip, 54, who had been suffering from cancer when he died Monday, served in the state Senate for six years before ousting incumbent Republican Gov. Frank Farrar in 1970. He made an unsuccessful run for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination last year.