[1] Born in Howard, South Dakota, Fosheim attended the public schools of that city,[3] and served in the United States Army during World War II, from 1942 to 1943.
[1][5] Fosheim was "re-elected to that office four consecutive times", becoming presiding judge of the 3rd Judicial Circuit of South Dakota.
[7] Fosheim became chief justice in 1983,[1] and announced in January 1986 that he would retire from the court later that year.
[8] On December 28, 1948, Fosheim married Mary Lou Olson of Huron, with whom he had three sons and two daughters.
[9] Fosheim died ten years later, in a hospital in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, at the age of 81.