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Ernest G. Carlsen

Business Sioux Falls, SD

Ernest G. Carlsen is a lawyer, businessman, community leader and family man who has lived most of his life in South Dakota. Ernie was born on a ranch near Hoover, South Dakota, on April 25, 1921, the youngest of nine children born to Danish immigrants, Chris and Cecelia Carlsen. While growing up on what eventually became the 14,000-acre Carlsen Ranch near Castle Rock, South Dakota, the summers found him reading in isolated sheep wagons when he was not tending to the sheep herds, and the winters found him studying through the eighth-grade in one-room school houses on the prairie. At age 14, Ernie moved to Newell, where he graduated from high school in 1939. His first two years of college were spent at Black Hill State College, where he learned to fly aerobatics from the famous South Dakota aviator, Clyde Ice. Later he joined the Army Air Corps. After his military service, he married Bonnie Brammer of Vermillion, South Dakota, and together they lovingly raised three children, Nancy, Cindy, and Chris. Ernie graduated from the University of South Dakota Business School in 1945 with a BA/BS in business administration and economics and with a Juris Doctorate from USD Law School in 1948. He has been a member of the South Dakota Bar for over sixty-nine years, since February 26, 1948. Upon graduation from USD law school, Ernie took a job in Washington State and began learning the title insurance business. Title insurance was a replacement for the old abstracting system in use at that time. Abstracts, and the associated opinions of lawyers, provided limited protection for sellers and buyers of real property, while title insurance gave far greater protection to the parties. There was an urgent demand at the time because the federal government required title insurance, not abstracts, for its many projects throughout the country. He was a quick study, and in the early 1950’s, after becoming a Vice President for the Title Insurance Company of Idaho, he introduced title insurance to counties across South Dakota, thereby becoming “The Father of Title Insurance in South Dakota.” Ernie did a great deal of title work throughout the state for the federal government, which was purchasing land and easements for the interstate highway system, Gavins Point Dam, Big Bend Dam, and Oahe Dam. He worked for many years as the underwriter’s general counsel to South Dakota’s agents, and he was the key “go-to” person to whom agents turned when they had puzzling title questions. Ernie was also the “go-to” guy for South Dakota lawyers when they had complicated problems relating to real property and estates. Lawyers could rely upon Ernie to spend the time necessary to help them resolve their problems, and he never charged his attorney colleagues for his advice. He was there to help and to educate, and he always enjoyed the challenge. After introducing title insurance to South Dakota, Ernie and his wife, Bonnie, started Land Title Guaranty Company in Sioux Falls in 1955, which was owned by the Carlsen family until the end of 2013, when Ernie retired at the age of 92. Ernie was an entrepreneur who created a viable small The Father of Title Insurance in South Dakota

business, which remains in operation after sixty-two years. He was also an excellent employer who hired and trained dozens of people during his years at Land Title. Some of the people he trained are now in ownership or management positions at other title companies in South Dakota. Ernie required excellence from his staff, and the accuracy of the work produced by Land Title was trusted by the real estate industry. During his tenure, Land Title insured over 90,000 transactions.

Ernie enjoyed a very loyal and devoted staff, some of whom worked for him for around forty years. Twenty years was the average longevity for the staff at the time of his retirement. Having developed his skills from the bottom up, Ernie willingly shared his knowledge by training hundreds of people in various aspects of title transactions. He contributed to a high standard of excellence in his chosen profession as a trainer in his own business, as a teacher for realtors and title insurers, and as a guest lecturer for many years at the USD Law School. He was a knowledgeable and trusted adviser to numerous individuals, realtors, bankers, builders, developers, attorneys, and others throughout the state. Ernie enjoyed helping people and would spend an equal amount of time answering a young couple’s questions about buying their first home as he spent with the wealthiest individuals in town who sought his expertise. Ernie loved his family, his work, his city and his state. He has been an honorable businessman who dedicated his life’s work to serving people.

Nominator: Chris Carlsen