Flags will be at half staff for South Dakota’s only female Speaker of the House

November 22, 2022

PIERRE, S.D.–Governor Kristi Noem has ordered flags be flown at half-staff at the State Capitol from sunrise until sunset on Saturday, December 10th, in honor of former state Representative and Bryant native Debra Anderson, who died November 10th at her home in Washington D.C.

Anderson served in the South Dakota House of Representatives from 1977 until 1989, and was the first and only female to serve as Speaker of the South Dakota House of Representatives.

“I got to know Deb and her husband, John, well over the years. She broke a glass ceiling for women in our state,” said Governor Kristi Noem. “She had a true servant’s heart, and she also served in President George H.W. Bush’s administration. She will be missed, and our prayers are with her family.”

Funeral services for Anderson will take place on December 10th in Farina, Illinois.

Anderson’s obituary can be found by clicking here: https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/washington-dc/debra-anderson-11009305