SIOUX FALLS, S.D.—Longtime Senator Tim Johnson, a credit union supporter, passed away this week in Sioux Falls, Dakota News Now reported.
Mr. Johnson was 77.
After nearly a decade in the South Dakota State Legislature, Mr. Johnson served five terms as a United States representative from 1987 to 1997, and then served three terms as a U.S. senator from 1997 until 2015. He is the last Democrat to hold statewide or congressional office in South Dakota, Dakota News Now said.
Mr. Johnson’s family cited complications from a recent stroke, Dakota News Now said.
Washington credit union advocate John McKechnie looked back on Mr. Johnson’s career and support of the credit union movement.
"Chairman Tim Johnson was very well suited to lead the Senate Banking Committee during the still-tumultuous period following the financial crisis,” McKechnie said. “He was always a voice of moderation and strove to listen, think and then act, rather than the other way around. From a credit union perspective, Chairman Johnson was a genuine friend; he had roots in the cooperative community and that informed his opinion of the credit union movement."