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Former banker-turned-South Dakota Rep. Burdette Solum has died at age 85.
According to Wight Comes & Sogn Funeral Chapel, Solum died Friday at a hospital in Watertown, the city in which he was born in 1927. A funeral mass is scheduled for Jan. 3 at the Holy Name Catholic Church in Watertown. Visitation will be from 4 to 7 p.m.
Solum was raised on a farm near Florence, S.D. He was drafted into the Army at the end of World War II, and later served in the Korean War as a member of the South Dakota National Guard.
He worked as a banker for 36 years before entering the world of politics, completing five terms in the state House of Representatives. He's survived by his wife, Phyllis, and five sons.