Dan Segersin – A Lifelong Commitment to Scouting
Northern Star Scouting board member Dan started his Scouting career in a troop in his Green Bay, Wisconsin grade school. “An exuberant one,” he said, “that went through several scoutmasters in 5 years.”
In fact, he was about to drop out of Scouting when two things happened that changed that decision. First, he was elected to the Order of the Arrow and second, he was asked to serve on staff at the Bear Paw Scout Camp. Dan says those events changed the trajectory of his life. He learned leadership from the older boys who were in college, which encouraged Dan to attend college, making him the first in his family to attend college. He learned the basics of leadership, how to set goals, work as a member of a team and other skills beyond that.
Dan advanced to Life Scout and continued as an Explorer in college, first at the University of Wisconsin, Green Bay, where he was in the OA Lodge and Section Chief. Later Dan earned his master’s degree in Accounting at the University of Minnesota and is a CPA.
After graduate school, Dan worked for the Deloitte and Touche accounting firm in Minneapolis, then started at Norwest Corporation, which later became Wells Fargo. He spent 7 years in Des Moines as CFO of Norwest Mortgage (now Wells Fargo Mortgage). During that time the mortgage company grew the number of offices from 40 to over 1,000. Dan retired as senior vice president in 2013. One memorable event he recalls is the 1982 Thanksgiving Day fire that destroyed the old bank building in downtown Minneapolis. He and other senior executives signed the last beam to be placed atop the new building to replace it, now called Wells Fargo Center.
Dan’s wife Carol received an accounting degree from the University of Minnesota and was an accountant with Peat Marwick and Mitchell (now KPMG). Dan and Carol have two sons, Sean and Tom, and a daughter, Leanne. Sean is a Star Scout who attended Mankato State, then joined the Marines and served 5 years including a tour in Iraq. Tom is an Eagle Scout and graduated from Bethel University. Both sons attended National Scout Jamborees, national high adventure bases and National Order of the Arrow Conferences. Leanne earned a degree in Interior Design at St. Catherine’s in St. Paul.
Dan’s leadership in the BSA includes serving as Territory Chair for 15 councils in National Service Territory 4, and as a member of the National Order of the Arrow Committee for 25 years. Dan also serves on the National Outdoor Programs and Properties Subcommittee. For the Northern Star Scouting board, Dan is on the Audit and Camping Budget Committees. He is a James West Fellow and received the Silver Beaver Award.
Dan is a committed donor to Scouting, saying “Scouting has given me so much I want other kids to have the opportunity to go to camp and learn about leadership. It is important to give back.”
