John W. Keller, Jr., age 82, of Huron, passed away on Saturday, January 14, 2017 at his residence.

His Mass of Christian Burial will be at 2:00 pm on Friday, January 20, 2017 at Holy Trinity Catholic Parish in Huron with military honors by the Huron Veteran's Council. Interment will be in the Black Hills National Cemetery near Sturgis, SD.

Visitation will be one hour prior to the funeral mass at the church on Friday.

John W. Keller, Jr., son of John "Bud" Keller and Bea (Markin) Keller, was born on March 8, 1934 in Huron.  He graduated from Huron High School in 1952.  John attended South Dakota State in Brookings, the University of Colorado, and ultimately received his undergraduate degree from Huron College by the end of the summer of 1954.  He then attended law school at the University of South Dakota for one year before entering the United States Army in the fall of 1955, serving for two years at Ft. Chaffee in Arkansas before returning to complete his law degree in Vermillion by the winter of 1958.

It was during this time that he met Mary Ellen Garvey of Milbank, who was attending USD as an undergraduate.  They were married on December 28, 1957, and their first child, Elizabeth, was born in October of 1958.

John loved the law.  He served as a Clerk to the Chief Judge of the 8th United States Circuit Court of Appeals (Archibald K. Gardner) in Huron upon graduation, then served as Beadle County Judge before taking a position as a Special Assistant Attorney General in Pierre.  His son John III was born in 1960 in Huron and his son Thomas was born in Pierre in 1962.

As Special Assistant Attorney General, John worked for the Department of Transportation as the state claimed land across South Dakota to place Interstate 90.  He joked that he conducted the same trial every day in a new location, working on fair valuation for the land needed for this monumental project.

The family then returned to Huron briefly before moving to Chamberlain in the summer of 1964, where they remained until 1978.  John was the State's Attorney in Chamberlain as well as having an active private practice, including personal injury and criminal defense including several murder trials.

As the 1960s progressed, so did John's commitment to civil rights.  He dedicated large portions of his practice to helping conscientious objectors to the Vietnam War, and began a lifelong dedication to the needs and injustices facing Native Americans.  John served as a primary counsel to the American Indian Movement, and wore around his neck two bullets pried from the wall of the church at Wounded Knee where occupiers, including women and children, were huddled.  He served as Tribal Attorney to the Yankton Sioux Tribe, and his caseload brought him throughout the upper Midwest in defense of the oppressed.  He was a lifelong supporter of the National Lawyers Guild and the ACLU, for whom he served later in life as a state boardmember.

Needless to say, John was a proud Democrat, serving several terms as a District Commiteeperson and delegate.  John ran for the Attorney General nomination in 1968, losing narrowly at the State Democrat Convention to James Abourezk.

In 1978, John's wife Mary decided to leave her job as a long-tenured high school English teacher in Chamberlain and attend law school at the University of Minnesota.  John relocated during that time to Huron to care for his ailing parents, and began working as a Deputy State's Attorney for George Danforth.  Mary graduated in 1981, and the couple have practiced law in Huron since that time.  John's primary focus remained on the rights of those in need, dedicating his practice to assisting individuals, families, and especially farmers in bankruptcy court, where he continued to solidify his reputation as a fierce advocate until his death.

Possessed of a quick wit and encyclopedic knowledge and memory, there was no topic on which John could not converse.  Airplanes, guns, and engines remained a daily topic of conversation over his lunch gatherings in Huron over the last 35 years of his life, joined daily by his wife, Mary, and close friend Walter Ball, in addition to engaging whoever else was close at hand.  He could often be found with a beloved pipe of Mixture 79 tobacco, using his elaborate smoking rituals to think through an issue.

John was a lifelong member of the Knights of Columbus, the American Legion, the Democrat party, and the South Dakota Bar Association.  He logged thousands of hours as a private pilot and owned several airplanes over his life, bemoaning the fact that eyesight and health issues prevented him from continuing his love of flying.  He loved all things mobile – his horses, motorcycles, sailboat, and Corvette.

John twice defeated cancer over the last two decades of his life including the removal of most of his lungs and radiation of his throat which made eating difficult.  John's love of country and the law remained as vital guideposts to the end.

John is survived by his wife, Mary; children, Elizabeth Bransdorfer of Grand Rapids, Michigan and her children Charlotte and Henry; John Keller III of St. Louis Park, Minnesota; and Thomas (Cena) Keller of Sioux Falls and their children Addison, Evin, and Merrick.

He was preceded in death by his parents; and an older sister, Barbara, who died in infancy.