Bishop describes anonymous help Janklow provided

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SIOUX FALLS (AP) — Bishop David Zellmer says he knows four families who benefited from help provided by former Gov. Bill Janklow and his wife.

Of those four, three of the families still don't know who assisted them.

The head of the South Dakota synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, Zellmer was speaking to a packed congregation at a Sioux Falls church for the former governor's funeral. He says he saw Janklow cry just once — when describing the support his family received from Flandreau when he was 12 and his father died.

Zellmer says that led to a discussion about how the church should help people more.

He says, "The best part of Bill Janklow was he and (wife) Mary Dean working to make a difference in the lives of people."

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