{{Short description|American politician (1941–2021)}} {{Infobox officeholder |name = Dwite Pedersen |image = |caption = |office = Member of the Nebraska Legislature from the 39th district |term_start = January 6, 1993 |term_end = January 8, 2009 |predecessor = Ed Schrock |successor = Beau McCoy |birth_name = |birth_date = {{Birth date|1941|10|20}} |birth_place = Chamberlain, South Dakota |death_date = {{Death date and age|2021|3|16|1941|10|20}} |death_place = Omaha, Nebraska |party = Republican }}
'''Dwite Pedersen''' (October 20, 1941 – March 16, 2021) was an American politician who served as a Nebraska state senator from Elkhorn, Nebraska in the Nebraska Legislature and a substance abuse counselor.
==Personal life== He was born October 20, 1941, in Chamberlain, South Dakota and graduated from Winner High School in 1960. He attended South Dakota State University and South Dakota Southern State Teachers College, and graduated from Doane College in human relations in 1995. He worked with troubled youth for 35 years being a member of the Nebraska and National Associations of Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Counselors and a former Boys Town counselor and administrator. He was a member of the Catholic Church.{{Citation needed|date=October 2010}}
He died on March 16, 2021, in Omaha, Nebraska, at age 79.<ref>{{cite web | title=Former longtime Nebraska Sen. Dwite Pedersen dies at 79 | agency=Associated Press | url=https://journalstar.com/news/state-and-regional/govt-and-politics/former-longtime-nebraska-sen-dwite-pedersen-dies-at-79/article_e7de4112-6702-5357-85ab-1a33bfec002c.html | accessdate=March 19, 2021 }}</ref>
==State legislature== He was elected in 1992 to represent the 39th Nebraska legislative district and re-elected in 1996, 2000, and 2004. He sat on the Transportation and Telecommunications committee, was the vice chairperson of the Judiciary committee, and chaired the Committee on Committees. He was eulogized on the floor of the Legislature by Senator Lou Ann Linehan the day following his death.
==See also== *Nebraska Legislature
==References== {{Reflist}} # {{cite web | title=Nebraska Unicameral Legislature | work=Sen. Dwite Pedersen | url=http://www.unicam.state.ne.us/senators/district39.htm | accessdate=March 15, 2006 | url-status=dead | archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20060219195354/http://www.unicam.state.ne.us/senators/district39.htm | archivedate=February 19, 2006 }}
{{s-start}} {{succession box| before=Ed Schrock | title=Nebraska state senator-district 39 | years=1993-2008| after=Beau McCoy }} {{s-end}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pedersen, Dwite}} Category:1941 births Category:2021 deaths Category:Republican Party Nebraska state senators Category:American substance abuse counselors Category:People from Chamberlain, South Dakota Category:South Dakota State University alumni Category:20th-century members of the Nebraska Legislature Category:21st-century members of the Nebraska Legislature