Tom Hennies was the third son born to Lewis and Mariellen Hennies in Wagner , South Dakota on August 11 , 1939 . The family moved to Chamberlain , then Rapid City , where Hennies was raised alongside older brothers Ron and Don Hennies . Tom Hennies graduated from Rapid City High School in 1957 and became a firefighter for the Chicago Northwestern Railroad . Later that year , he enlisted in the United States Army . He was assigned to the United States Army Security Agency and sent to Japan . After a year in Japan , Hennies was reassigned to South Korea , where he remained until discharge from active service . Hennies attended the Black Hills Teachers College and University of South Dakota . He married Ann Luedemann in 1963 and joined the Rapid City Police Department two years later . He was on duty during the 1972 Black Hills flood , and eventually found himself floating in his patrol car . Shortly after radioing for help , he was rescued by the Rapid City Fire Department . In 1984 , Hennies was named police chief of Rapid City , and established a partnership with the Pennington County Sheriff 's Office . Hennies stepped down as police chief in 2000 to focus on his duties as a member of the South Dakota House of Representatives , to which he had first been elected in 1998 . When Hennies won reelection in 2000 , his brother Don began his first term in same legislative body . In his final reelection campaign in 2004 , Hennies finished first in District 32 , ahead of fellow Republican Alan Hanks , Democrats Mike Wilson and Anita Paige . Near the end of his fourth and final term as a state representative , Hennies was diagnosed with Legionnaires ' disease . He was seeking treatment for the disease at Mayo Clinic when he died , aged 70 , on August 11 , 2009 . His funeral was held on August 18 , 2009 , with the entire Rapid City Police Department in attendance . Hennies was interred at the Black Hills National Cemetery
1972 Black Hills flood
1972 Black Hills flood
Tom Hennies