“Behind every successful man is a strong woman.”  My wife, Linda, is a great partner to me, a great mother to our three children, and a great educator and librarian.  I know she’ll make a great First Lady as well.

Linda grew up in Dell Rapids.  She was the third of twelve children in the Schmidt family; today, eight of the twelve still live in the Dell Rapids-Sioux Falls area.  Linda graduated from Dell Rapids St. Mary’s High School in 1971.

Linda attended South Dakota State University, where she obtained her degree in physical education and a teaching certificate.  The Schmidt Family has strong ties to SDSU.  Linda’s dad, “Sunny Jim” Schmidt, was a standout basketball player for South Dakota State in the 1940s.  Sixteen members of the Schmidt family, including Linda’s brothers and sisters, attended State, and the Schmidts were the SDSU Family of the Year in 2006.

After graduation, Linda returned to Dell Rapids, where she taught at St. Mary’s and coached the school’s first girls basketball team.  She then worked for several years in university student life, first at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, MN and then at University of California-Davis in Davis, CA. 

In 1981, Linda and I both returned to South Dakota and were married.  She worked for three years in the Minnehaha Clerk of Courts office.  In 1983, our daughter Laura was born, followed by Sara in 1985 and Chris in 1987.  We raised our family on the Daugaard farmsite, located between Dell Rapids and Garretson.

After staying at home with our children for several years, Linda returned to work as a school librarian, first at Dell Rapids Elementary and then at St. Mary’s.  During this time, she developed a keen interest in encouraging reading, and served on the Minnehaha Rural Library Board and the Siouxland Library Board.  In 2003, Governor Rounds appointed Linda to the State Library Board; she completed her term in 2009.

Linda left her job as a librarian after Chris graduated from high school in 2005.  Since that time, she has joined me in Pierre for the legislative session and traveled with me on work for Children’s Home, as lieutenant governor, and on our campaign.  Linda also continues to work frequently as a substitute teacher at Dell Rapids and St. Mary’s.