Terence M. "Terry" Dempsey (February 17, 1932 - September 2, 2023) was an American politician and a former member of the

Minnesota House of Representatives The Minnesota House of Representatives is the lower house of the Legislature of the U.S. state of Minnesota. There are 134 members, twice as many as the Minnesota Senate. Floor sessions are held in the north wing of the State Capitol in Saint Pa ...

who represented the old House districts 23A and 28B, which included all or portions of

Brown Brown is a color. It can be considered a composite color, but it is mainly a darker shade of orange. In the CMYK color model used in printing or painting, brown is usually made by combining the colors orange and black. In the RGB color model used ...

, Cottonwood, Nicollet and

Redwood Sequoioideae, popularly known as redwoods, is a subfamily of coniferous trees within the family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affini ...

counties in the south central part of the state. A

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

, he was an attorney and partner in the New Ulm law firm of Somsen, Dempsey and Schade. Later, he served as a Minnesota district court judge. His brother Jerry Dempsey also served in the Minnesota Legislature. Dempsey was first elected to the House in 1978, unseating former New Ulm mayor and incumbent Rep. Tony Eckstein. He was re-elected to six additional terms. He served as minority leader from 1991 to 1992, and was an assistant minority leader from 1987 to 1991. He was chair of the Taxes Subcommittee for the Local Government Finance Division, and chair of the Rules and Legislative Administration Subcommittee's Select Committee on the Staten Case during the 1985-1986 Biennium. Raised in

Henderson Henderson may refer to: People *Henderson (surname), description of the surname, and a list of people with the surname *Clan Henderson, a Scottish clan Places Argentina *Henderson, Buenos Aires Australia *Henderson, Western Australia Canada * H ...

, Dempsey attended the

College of St. Thomas A college (Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational institution or a University system, constituent part of one. A college may be a academic degree, degree-awarding Tertiary education, tertiary educational institution, a part of a coll ...

Saint Paul Paul; grc, Παῦλος, translit=Paulos; cop, ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ; hbo, פאולוס השליח (previously called Saul of Tarsus;; ar, بولس الطرسوسي; grc, Σαῦλος Ταρσεύς, Saũlos Tarseús; tr, Tarsuslu Pavlus; ...

, earning his bachelor's degree in Political Science. He served as a pilot in the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

for three years. He graduated from the University of California's Hasting's College of the Law in 1962, earning his J.D.UC Hastings College of the Law: Class Notes
Retrieved 2011-04-29. He worked with the Minnesota Public Defender's Office for two years, and was the New Ulm City Attorney for 10 years. He also served on the Minnesota Governor's Crime Commission for two years. In 1992, Dempsey was appointed a district court judge by

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Arne Carlson Arne Helge Carlson (born September 24, 1934) is an American politician who served as the 37th Governor of Minnesota. A Republican, Carlson's viewpoints are considered to be moderate. He first won election to the governors office in 1990. Carlso ...

. He resigned from the Minnesota House on May 11, 1992, and served as a Fifth Judicial District judge until 2002. Since leaving the bench, he has continued to be active in state politics, serving on the Minnesota Board on Aging from 2002 to 2010, and on the Minnesota Combative Sports Commission since 2010.

References

External links

Minnesota House Session Weekly - February 1, 1991: "1991 House Leadership Series...Dempsey hopes to avoid 'arm-twisting'"

Terry Dempsey: An Inventory of His Papers at the Minnesota Historical Society
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dempsey, Terry 1932 births People from New Ulm, Minnesota People from Henderson, Minnesota University of St. Thomas (Minnesota) alumni University of California College of the Law, San Francisco alumni Republican Party members of the Minnesota House of Representatives Minnesota state court judges Living people