Karen Muenster

Karen K. Muenster is an American politician and businesswoman. A Democratic Party|Democrat], she served in the South Dakota Senate from 1985 to 1992 and as the minority whip from 1988 to 1992. She previously served on the Vermillion City Council.

Early life and education

Muenster was born on October 15, 1942 in Deshler, Nebraska. She grew up in Hebron, Nebraska. She was educated at private Catholic institutions, graduating from Mount Carmel Academy and Sacred Heart Women's College in Wichita, Kansas. Muenster went on to attend the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, where she was a member of Alpha Xi Delta and served as president of the Young Democrats.

Muenster is a businesswoman and a self-employed historic property renovator.
Muenster began her political career serving o the Vermillion, South Dakota city council. She was elected to serve in the South Dakota Senate in 1984 as a representative of the fifteenth district in northern Sioux Falls. She was reelected in 1986 and in 1988, serving in the senate from 1985 to 1992. She was appointed to the executive board of the Legislative Research Council in 1987 and was elected Democratic minority whip in 1988. She served on the state affairs, judiciary, and commerce committees.
She was a member of the 1986 National Democratic Policy Commission, served as precinct committeewoman of the National Democratic Women's Club, and was a board member of the Civic Fine Arts Board.

She married Theodore R. "Ted" Muenster Jr., a native of Beatrice, Nebraska whom she met in college, and moved with him to South Dakota in 1967. They lived in Vermillion, Pierre, and Sioux Falls. They have three children, Ted, Tom, and Mary Kathryn.

In 2009, the Theodore R. and Karen K. Muenster University Center at the University of South Dakota was named in honor of Muenster and her husband for their contributions to the school.