The late James (Jim) Loiseau will be inducted later this year into the South Dakota Transportation Hall of Honor.
Nominated by his son Shaw, Loiseau was announced last week as one of the newest inductees. He will be honored alongside the late Jim Myers, former South Dakota Department of Transportation director of railroads and transportation. A date has yet to be set for this year’s ceremony.
“Each year the South Dakota Transportation Hall of Honor committee meets and reviews applications for induction consideration for this prestigious honor,” said Transportation Secretary Joel Jundt, who serves as committee chair.
“Once again this year, the committee diligently deliberated over the applications, and in the end overwhelmingly approved Mr. Myers and Mr. Loiseau as two individuals who truly made lasting and valuable impacts in their respective modes of transportation.”

Loiseau, who died in a tragic accident in 2022, was the former president and owner of Loiseau Construction Inc.
He grew up on a farm three miles west of Egan before attending Hanson’s Mechanical Truck School in Fargo. He started JR Loiseau Construction in 1976, which became Loiseau Construction in 1987. The company continues to thrive under the leadership of family and longtime employees.
Loiseau worked as president and owner of Loiseau Construction Inc. for 46 years. He was president of the Land Improvement Contractors of America in 1990 and president of the Associated General Contractors in 2003.
“The family feels it’s a great honor (for Jim), he spent his entire life in the construction business building roads for the DOT,” Shaw said.
In his nomination letter to the DOT, Shaw wrote of his dad, “The summer between his junior and senior year of high school in 1967, he went to Forsyth, Montana and worked for Kewitt Construction. James’ uncle, Charles (Bud) Valentine was a superintendent for Kewitt Construction, and they were building the Interstate system. James did a variety of construction things those two summers for Kewitt. He didn’t realize it at the time but those two summers would set the foundation for a life in the construction industry.”
More on the nomination, Loiseau’s career, and the impact he had on travel throughout the state and region later this year. The DOT plans to work with the family this week to set a date for a reception. In the meantime, Loiseau also had a tremendous impact on the local rodeo community. A full memorial team roping event is scheduled for this coming weekend in his memory.