SOUTH DAKOTA PHILANTHROPIST T. DENNY” SANFORD OF SIOUX FALLS PASSED AWAY SATURDAY AT AGE 90.
SANFORD, WHO WAS BORN IN ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA, PURCHASED A BANK IN SIOUX FALLS, SOUTH DAKOTA, IN 1986, RENAMED IT FIRST PREMIER BANK AND EXPANDED INTO THE CREDIT CARD SECTOR WITH PREMIER BANKCARD.
IT’S SUCCESS ALLOWED SANFORD TO FOCUS ON PHILANTHROPIC ENDEAVORS IN HIS LATER YEARS.
HIS FIRST SIGNIFICANT DONATION WAS A $2 MILLION GIFT IN 1999 TO CHILDREN’S HOME SOCIETY OF SOUTH DAKOTA.
THEN IN 2007, HE MADE HISTORY WITH HIS $400 MILLION GIFT TO THE SIOUX VALLEY HEALTH SYSTEM, WHICH BECAME SANFORD HEALTH.
HE FUNDED NUMEROUS SCHOLARSHIPS AND WAS ALSO INSTRUMENTAL IN CONSTRUCTION OF THE DENNY SANFORD PREMIER CENTER IN SIOUX FALLS AND PROVIDED SIGNIFICANT GIFTS TO THE SANFORD UNDERGROUND RESEARCH FACILITY AND CRAZY HORSE MEMORIAL IN THE BLACK HILLS.
OVER THE COURSE OF HIS LIFE, DENNY SANFORD PROVIDED MORE THAN $4 BILLION DOLLARS IN GIFTS TO CHARITABLE ORGANIZATIONS.
GOVERNOR LARRY RHODEN ISSUED A STATEMENT SAYING “SOUTH DAKOTA WILL FOREVER BE IMPACTED BY SANFORD’S LEGACY AND CALLED HIM THE GREATEST PHILANTHROPIST IN SOUTH DAKOTA HISTORY.”
Photo provided
