Mary L. Larson, is a graduate of Creighton University and received her MBA in 1988 from the University of South Dakota.

In 1976 Mary became the 4th woman Certified Public Accountant in SD. She retired as a CPA on April 15, 2006.  In 1992, Mary was appointed to the South Dakota Board of Accountancy by then Governor George S. Mickelson.  Mary has served on numerous professional and charitable organization boards of directors including South Dakotans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, Alternatives to Violence, and the St. Vincent de Paul Council in Sioux Falls, where she was the treasurer. She is a Vincentian, a Benedictine oblate, a CASA volunteer and a member of St. Mary’s Parish in Sioux Falls.

In June 2000, Mary became a chapel volunteer for the Native Americans at the SD State Penitentiary. She was honored with the 2002 AICPA Public Service Award for her volunteer work and the 2007 Humanitarian Award from the Sioux Falls Human Relations Commission. In 2015 she was honored by the Oglala Lakota Nation with a star quilt and given the name “Wawokiye Win” (woman who helps someone in need without asking for anything in return). She is very interested in racial reconciliation.

Mary is married to Leonard Johnson and has two children, three grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren from her first marriage.