Frank James Soutar

Spearfish, Sioux Falls, SD

1934, 1793, Pine Creek, S-1, 1st Lt. Eng. Res. Ass't CO
1934, 2755, Lodge, DSP-2, 1st Lt. Eng. Res. CO

Barry G. Wick, 2013 "My grandfather, Capt. Frank James Soutar was originally from Spearfish, SD. When he was a Lt., he was commander of Camp Lodge and Asst. Commander at Camp Custer (1934). He was Valedictorian of the Class of 1910 at the University of South Dakota.

The day he was to go to West Point because of an appointment, he broke his leg trying to get on the train. He never went to West Point and had a slight limp for the rest of his life. He did join the Army and managed to go up in rank.

He married Florence Gunderson, the daughter of SD State Representative Carl Gunderson, who would later go on to be SD Governor from 1925 to 1927. My great-grandfather Gov. Gunderson appointed Frank to be his highway superintendent. He and Florence had four children...my mother Jean Marie Soutar Wick (deceased) of Rapid City, Patricia Soutar Schiebe of Longmont, Colorado (now age 90), Margaret H. "Peggy" Soutar Behrens of Clarkston, Washington (now deceased) and James Alistair Soutar (deceased). Frank's parents were immigrants to the US via Canada from Scotland, James and Eva Soutar of Spearfish.

My mother Jean was born in Niagara Falls, New York while he was an engineer for one of the electric plants there. He worked for Northern States Power in Sioux Falls until moving to the Black Hills.

Frank and Florence divorced...and Frank pursued many opportunities after that. He spoke and wrote 7 languages including Arabic...since family lore has him working in Saudi Arabia for Aramco. The Rapid City librarian once told my mother that Frank had read every book in the Rapid City Library at the time. He's buried in Rosecrans Military Cemetery in San Diego."

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