Dick grew up in Shelby County Ohio and spent many of his formative years with his paternal grandmother. Dick is a mixed blood of Lakota/Scot descent. His grandmother was Oglala/Sihasapa Lakota and was from the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. His grandparents were part of the Government's turn of the century assimilation program and relocated to Ohio. Dick has rekindled a relationship with family members on the reservation and visits them when circumstances permit.
Dick has several fine Pope and Young whitetail deer to his credit, in addition to bear and other game species. His love of bowhunting spans more than 40 years. Dick has shot competitive target archery and has won several state and national titles. He speaks publicly at sportsmen's and conservation events. Early on, Dick worked for American Archery Corporation under the tutelage of Ken Laird. Dick began building recurves and longbows as a hobby many years ago, and eventually parlayed this experience into Lakota Industries. Dick is also an avid songwriter and guitar player, and has recorded several CDs.
Dick’s other passion is writing. Among his works, Dick has completed a novel titled In Black And White, about the experiences of two soldiers, one black and the other white, in Viet Nam. Dick has written a novella called Wanikiya that deals with the spirituality of the Lakota Indians. He has also authored a humor book titled Almost Flying, dealing with the zany sport of racing pigeons. Dick wrote a monthly by-line for National Bowhunter and Western Bowhunter magazines for 15 years. He edited a book titled Blood Trails for friend and rock star Ted Nugent. He has written features for hunting magazines including Adventure Outdoors and US Archer and has produced a television series.
Dan is a computer science graduate from the University of Dayton. He was fortunate to have played basketball for the Dayton Flyers in an era when the university experienced great success (1965 - 1969). He was the starting center on the teams that finished second in the NCAA Tournament and won the NIT Championship. After graduating, Dan played professional basketball in Europe and the Phillipines before getting a “real job.”
Over his working career, Dan has held technology-related positions in numerous industries – banking, insurance, financial services, oil and gas, education, government contracting, and transportation. “Dick and I first met when we worked together on a project for the State of Ohio. Lakota Industries was our brainchild when we were thinking of things to do in our retirement. He gets to design archery equipment and hunt with celebrities, and I get to eat venison and go to trade shows!”