Sundance Charter member Lee Warner passed away in March 2002
He is probably most closely identified with the well known Appaloosa grandson of Sundance, Bambi E. With Bambi E Lee Warne established his Sully line of Sundance Appaloosa horses.
Lee horses sold internationally, as well as all over the U.S. He is sadly missed from the Sundance Family.
Leland "Lee" Warne, 80, long time Sully County rancher and former member of the South Dakota Legislature, died in Scottsdale, Arizona, on Friday March 8, 2002.
Leland Warne was born January 1, 1922, to Edward and Lona (Yung) Warne in Pierre. He graduated from Pierre High School in 1939 and from the University of South Dakota in 1943.
He reported to Officers Candidate School at Fort Knox, Kentucky. He served nearly four years as platoon leader and company commander, serving with both the 20th and 2nd Armored Divisions in the European theater of war. He received the Purple Heart, Bronze Star and numerous battle citations.
Upon returning to the United States he married Helen Williams, a registered nurse from Nashville, Tennessee. After his discharge from the service, they returned to the family ranch near Onida, which they operated for 36 years.
Lee served on the local school board for 22 years and served for 21 years as a Sully County commissioner. In 1953 he was elected to the South Dakota Senate and was re-elected in 1955. He was elected to the South Dakota House of Representatives in 1957. He was Republican National Committeeman in 1952 and a delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1956.
He was appointed by Secretary of Agriculture Earl Butz to the first National Water Bank Advisory Board. He was appointed by Attorney General to the State Law Enforcement Officers Standard Commission to represent county commissioners. He also served as University of South Dakota alumni president and was co-chairman of the University Development Commission.
In the early 1960s Lee and his Sully County friends chartered and built the Sully County Bank. He served as its president until it was sold to BankWest of Pierre in 1981.
The Warne ranch received awards, including Outstanding Conservation Unit of Sully County in 1972 and the South Dakota State Izaak Walton League award for outstanding wildlife habitat management in 1973.
In 1957 Appaloosa horses were introduced into the ranch operation. Lee produced five national champions in the United States as well as sales to Italy, Germany, Australia, Canada, Hawaii and Cyprus. Upon retirement in 1981, Lee and Helen moved their horse operation to a ranch west of Custer.
In 1988 Lee was inducted into the South Dakota Hall of Fame in the field of agriculture.
He is survived by his wife of 56 years. Helen Warne of Scottsdale, Arizona, his son Randy Warne and his wife Nora of Onida, his daughter, Nancy Kelley and her husband of Custer, his grandchildren, a great grandchild; and his brother, Maynard Warne and his wife Edyth of Custer. He was preceded in death by his parents and two infant children.
