Jan. 27, 2021

Legendary South Dakota architect Ward Whitwam died this week at age 97.

“I’ve had a wonderful life,” he said in the first words of his obituary, which noted it also was an “incredible” life.

Born in Watertown in 1923, Whitwam was drafted into the Army at age 20, with service that included the invasion of Normandy and the Battle of the Bulge in World War II. He returned to the University of California, Berkeley, where he graduated with bachelor’s and master’s degrees in architecture.

He returned to South Dakota and opened his own architecture office at age 29.

“I wanted to be a big fish in a small pond,” his obituary quoted him as saying often.

And he was.

Whitwam went on to design some of the state’s most recognized structures, including the massive, iconic concrete tepees at nine interstate rest stops.

His work also included multiple churches plus the chapel at Augustana University and Good Samaritan Village on North Minnesota Avenue. He designed his own office building on West Avenue where he practiced until 1997.

At 65, he became the executive director of the South Dakota American Institute of Architects, a position he held for 23 years until he eventually retired in 2011 at the age of 88.

His community involvement included serving as the president of the Greater Sioux Falls Chamber of Commerce’s military and veterans committee and as president of multiple Lions Clubs.

In 2001, he became the second South Dakotan to be awarded a fellowship by the National American Institute of Architects. In 2017, then Gov. Dennis Daugaard presented Whitwam the Arts Distinction in Creative Achievement for his work in South Dakota. He dedicated the award to his grandchildren, who “may forever stand at my buildings as a remembrance of me.” In 2020, Whitwam was awarded the Legacy Award for Lifetime Achievement to Architecture by the South Dakota AIA.

Whitwam’s favorite phrase was “every day is a gift,” his obituary said.

In addition to his wife, Elissa, he is survived by his three children and five grandchildren.

Information on memorial services was not included with his obituary.

To learn more about Whitwam’s life and legacy, take a look at this 2003 article from South Dakota Magazine.