After high school, he worked one year at the South Dakota Highway Dept on a survey crew.  Then he attended Southern State Teachers College at Springfield one semester. Art moved to Gregory to work at the Chevy dealership as the parts manager.  In 1967, he moved to Mitchell to work as a mechanic/body man at the AMC and Oldsmobile dealership.

In 1969, Art was riding his motorcycle in Mitchell when he was hit by a car.  His foot got caught in the car bumper and was pulled off.  He landed 160 feet from where he was hit.  His left leg was wrapped up over his shoulder behind his neck.  He had the first successful foot reattachment in Mitchell, but he spent the next five months in the hospital, the first four in traction.  He graduated from a wheelchair to crutches and then decided to throw his braces away. Eventually, the bones in his foot wore out and he was sent to Georgia for a delicate surgery.  The doctors asked if they could film the operation and Art thought, they probably won’t make any mistakes if the cameras are on.

After   his hospital stay, he enrolled in the electric construction and maintenance program at Mitchell Tech.  He graduated in the spring of 1971 and opened his own electrical business in Bonesteel for a number of years.  He and his family moved to Rapid City and worked as a union journeyman until starting his own business in 1981 (which he still operates).

Art started working part-time at Western Dakota Tech in 1982 when the electrical program was a few years old.  On the first day, his department head led him down a hall, handed him a book, opened the door to 22 students and said, Good Luck!

In 1985, Art and his family moved to Europe for a year performing missionary work.  One Saturday, the director of WDT called him and said, can you be here Monday? So, they returned and Art started full-time.  He worked on the WDT campuses at Fort Meade, Pleasant Valley, The Rushmore Building and the last 10 years in North Mickelson.  He remembers a time at Pleasant Valley when the director asked the employees not to cash their paychecks because there was not enough money and they agreed.  They were excited to make the move to Rapid City and they all pitched in and helped with the construction at Rushmore.  He says, in spite of all the obstacles, the place ran itself because of the dedicated people.

Art and his sweetheart wife, Marcia of 42 years, have 2 daughters and 7 grandsons.  They all live in Rapid City and they cherish being grandparents.  They want to continue traveling hoping to go to England and Scotland and also see more of the United States.  Art loves to sing and was part of a gospel quartet.  He also has a passion for missionary work.  He’s been to Brussels, Belgium; Lisbon, Portugal; Belfast Northern Ireland; and Managua, Nicaragua.  He hopes to go back to Belgium this summer to do more construction.

And when Art is home, he has three unfinished car projects plus he enjoys the cars he has restored.  He has an orange 33 Chevy 5-window coupe that was selected as the 2004 Exhaust Pro calendar car and he has a 69 Hurst AMX.

Art taught one year at Oglala Lakota College after retirement from WDT and would like to keep his hand in education, either teaching or training.  He says what he likes best about teaching is the young people are worth investing in; it keeps me young too.   He said, you get from the students as well as you give.   However, if he had to do it over again, he’d be more involved in the automotive program somehow.

Linda and her husband, Wes, have four children and two grandchildren, with another grandchild due in June.  Both Linda and Wes enjoy the grand parenting role of spoiling them and then sending them home to their parents.  One of their favorite past times is having family and friends at the lake house in Hendricks, MN.