Gees Give Back to What They Care About

Gophers become Jackrabbits

Dan and Rae Jean Gee moved into married student housing on the campus of SDSU in 1965 so that Dan could pursue a master’s degree and eventually a Ph.D. in animal science under the guidance of Dr. Richard Wahlstrom.

Recent graduates of the University of Minnesota, the couple had been actively engaged as Gophers. Dan was a member of the livestock and dairy judging teams, served as President of the Block and Bridle Club, and worked in the campus Meats Lab. Rae Jean was involved in Home Economics Club and worked in the bio-chemistry lab.

It didn’t take long for the new Jackrabbits to get involved at SDSU and in the community of Brookings.

Rae Jean became an active member of the Brookings Homemakers Club. She began working in the SDSU Poultry Department, followed by the USDA Northern Grain Insect Research Lab.

“I just loved research,” Rae Jean said. “But what made my job most fun was I got to work mostly with SDSU athletes who needed summer jobs in Brookings.”

Rae Jean and Dan have been Jackrabbit Basketball season ticket holders since 1969. Rae Jean and Dan volunteered to chair the SDSU Festival of Champions, an event that honored the academic and athletic accomplishments of student-athletes because their daughters – all graduates of SDSU – played college sports: Jennifer was on the softball and golf teams while Julie and Jessica were also on the golf team.

Animal Science 101

While pursuing his master’s, Dan reconnected with Dr. Paul Kohler.

Dan first met the long-time animal science professor when Paul was the swine judge at the Lyon County (MN) 4-H Swine Show. As an undergrad, Dan was a member of the University of Minnesota Livestock Judging team, so Kohler asked Dan to serve as assistant coach for the SDSU Livestock Judging Team.

Passionate about livestock judging, Dan immediately said yes.

Dan appreciated the opportunity to work alongside Kohler coaching students.

“Dr. Paul Kohler became my mentor,” Dan said. “He was instrumental in everything I did.”

While driving the judging team home from the National Western Livestock Judging competition in Denver, Kohler let Dan know he was thinking of retiring. “He asked if I was interested in taking over his position as livestock judging coach and animal science professor, and I accepted,” said Dan.

Dan began teaching Animal Science 101, as well as Livestock Evaluation and Marketing, in 1969. Dan continued teaching both courses until his retirement from SDSU in 1999.

“In later years, department heads would ask if I wanted to teach more advanced courses and I would say no, because I loved meeting all these bright-eyed kids, and I thought I could be more helpful in their first year, helping them adapt to college and life,” Dan explained. “I got to teach long enough that I got to follow them through their careers. I attended many of their weddings and ended up teaching some of their children.”

As the judging coach, Dan supervised weekday and weekend practices and drove the team to their competitions across the country.

“If you think you get to know students in a classroom, wait until you travel with them for a year,” Dan said. “The best thing about being the driver was you got to listen in on what students cared about. I knew which instructors were the best and which courses weren’t so great. This knowledge came in handy as an academic advisor.”

Dan coached Collegiate Livestock Judging for 17 years. Under Dan’s guidance, the SDSU Livestock Judging Team was dominant in every major contest they competed in, including the North American Livestock Exposition, an international livestock judging contest. To this day, Dan and Rae Jean remain closely connected with the individuals he coached.

Teaching and coaching agriculture students for 30 years, Dan got to know many of South Dakota’s agriculture leaders, first as students and then as friends, including the 20th President of South Dakota State University, Dr. Barry Dunn.

It’s about connecting with people

After retirement, when he was asked to serve as executive director for the first South Dakota Ag and Rural Leadership (SDARL) Class, Dan said he knew right away who to ask to participate.

“A large percentage of the first few SDARL classes were made up of former livestock judges,” Dan explained.

Dan served as executive director of SDARL from 1999-2012, and Rae Jean worked right alongside him.

“Rae Jean is the best helper I could have asked for,” Dan said. “In the early years, I had so many things to do – fundraising, programming, organizing travel. I would be concerned about whether the speaker would arrive on time or not, and Rae Jean would make her way around the room getting to know all the participants.”

Getting to know people is a talent Rae Jean enjoys sharing.

“It’s fun for me to get to know people. I want to meet everyone. It’s easy for me to talk to people; my parents taught me that,” Rae Jean said.

A natural conversationalist with an innate ability to put people at ease, Rae Jean was asked to serve on the welcome committee for St. Thomas More Church in retirement. Because many SDSU students are in the parish, each year about 140 new members arrive. Before serving on the welcoming committee, Rae Jean served on the parish council and taught catechism. Growing up, Rae Jean’s parents placed a lot of emphasis on their faith. She and her sisters attended a parochial school.

She also credits her mother with her love of gardening. “My mother and grandmother both belonged to the state and national iris society,” explained Rae Jean, who is a member of the Sioux Falls Iris Society and the National Iris Society.

Rae Jean continued the legacy of her mother, Martha Stassen, and grandmother, Raphaelle De Langhe, raising 250 varieties of irises on the acreage where she and Dan lived before retirement. When they moved into Brookings, she donated her collection to McCrory Gardens. In true Rae Jean fashion, she recruited a group of 13 friends to join her in volunteering to care for the McCrory Gardens iris beds.

During the growing season, the Iris Crew weeds in McCrory Gardens for one hour each Tuesday.

Avid golfers, Rae Jean and Dan also donated several irises to Brookings’ Edgebrook Golf Course. During the summer months, they volunteer their time weekly to plant and maintain several garden beds.

When asked why they make time to volunteer in retirement, the Gees quickly respond.

To give back to the places and honor the people they value, the couple worked with the SDSU Foundation to establish the Dan and Rae Jean Gee Charitable Remainder Trust.

As a remainder trust, when Dan and Rae Jean pass, their estate will first go in full to their three daughters and then to SDSU, McCrory Gardens, and St. Thomas More Catholic Church.

“Giving back this way is a no-brainer,” Dan said. “We can give back to the university and our church and not take anything away from our girls.”

Rae Jean agreed. “We are happy to give to the people and places we care about – I am really involved as a volunteer at McCrory Gardens. It has my heart.”

The trust will reinforce the Livestock Judging Endowment in honor of Dr. Paul Kohler and Dr. Dan Gee; establish the Dan and Rae Jean Gee Scholarship within the College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences focused on students pursuing animal science degrees who are interested in livestock judging; reinforce an existing endowment established to sustain the beauty of McCrory Gardens; and provide funds to St. Thomas More Catholic Church.