Entity | Rudy Perpich

Rudolph George Perpich Sr. (June 27, 1928 – September 21, 1995) was an American politician and the longest-serving governor of Minnesota, serving a total of just over 10 years. A member of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, he served as the 34th and 36th Governor of Minnesota from December 29, 1976, to January 4, 1979, and again from January 3, 1983, to January 7, 1991. He was also the state's only Roman Catholic governor and the only one to serve non-consecutive terms. Before entering politics, he was a dentist. Rudolph George Prpić was born in Carson Lake, Minnesota, which is now part of Hibbing. His father, Anton Prpić, was a miner who had immigrated from Croatia to Minnesota's Mesabi Iron Range, and his mother, Mary (Vukelich), was an American of Croatian descent. Perpich did not learn to speak English until at least the first grade of elementary school. At 14, he began working for the Great Northern Railway. He graduated from Hibbing High School in 1946 and served two years in the United States Army. He then attended Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and graduated from Marquette University Dental School in 1954, whereupon he returned to Hibbing to practice dentistry.